


Blamed for Murder

by Tim_Maybach



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-17 22:54:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 34,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16983345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tim_Maybach/pseuds/Tim_Maybach
Summary: Ladybug was on patrol during a cold autumn night as she heard screams coming from a suite in Le Hotel Grand Paris. As Ladybug stepped into the dark room, she found the dead body of André Bourgeois. The lights turned on and she heard Rogers voice: "This is the police. Ladybug, stay where you are and do not resist!" She was set up and framed for murder.





	1. A Rainy Night

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own any of the characters of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. All rights are reserved to their rightful owners.
> 
> Trigger warning: This fanfiction contains murder, violence, light gore, swearing and other felonies.
> 
> Spoiler warning: This fanfiction is set after season 2 episode 13 "Zombizou". Spoilers for episodes up to this point may occur.

It was a cold and rainy Friday night in the middle of October. I was on patrol with Chat Noir until 2 in the morning. Crime has dropped a lot in Paris since we started to go on patrol on a regular basis, so the two of us decided to split up and go home as everything was quiet and peaceful. 

I wasn't that tired, but Chat Noirs attempts at flirting annoyed me to pieces. Why didn't he stop his attempts? I always thought he is just a big flirt until he invited Ladybug to a surprise dinner and talked to me as Marinette about how sad he was I didn't come. I felt bad for turning him down, but my heart only belonged to Adrien. Chat was just a good friend for me. I was glad he didn't come to visit Marinette more often a this would have made things really complicated for me.

I was half way home as I heard loud painful sounding screams from one of the top suites of Le Hotel Grand Paris. I swung myself up and jumped into the room through an open window. Everything was dark as lights turned out a few seconds before I entered. As I was searching the suite room by room, I saw mayor Bourgeois lying on the ground and a shadowy figure dashed out of a closet behind me. The mysterious silhouette ran towards the window I came through, jumped out and closed it behind her.

The lights went back on and I ran towards Chloé's father to check if he was alright. I wanted to follow the unknown person, but helping someone in need was more important, than chasing a suspect. I kneeled down beside mayor Bourgeois and checked for vitals. He had clear and fresh marks around his neck, that looked like he was strangled with something like a string or cable. No breath, no pulse, I was too late. My professional calmness faded away and I was shocked as the realization hit me. He got killed only a few seconds before I could have helped him. My stomach twisted, I sobbed and a few tears rolled down my eyes since I never saw a corpse.

My thoughts got interrupted as the door was suddenly kicked in and Roger and two other Policemen rushed into the room, guns drawn and directed at me. Roger yelled: "This is the police! Ladybug, stay where you are and do not resist! Leave the mayor alone!"

I tried to steady my breath as I desperately tried to answer. "I'm innocent! I came in and found him here!" But Roger didn't listen to me: "Ladybug, I arrest you for assaulting mayor Bourgeois! You have the right to remain silent and call an attorney."

I wasn't sure why, but Roger did not believe me and still pointed his gun at me, anger burning in his eyes. I was still shocked by the gruesome sight of the dead mayor, but I managed to pull myself together, get up on my feet again and regain my professional attitude. I rushed to the window and tried to open it, but the security system had locked it up.

In the next second, I heard a gunshot going off and saw a bullet crashing into the - obviously bulletproof - window. I immediately reacted by jumping behind some cover in a room next to me. Tikki once told me my suit is made out of the same tough material as my yo-yo, but I wasn't fond of trying its limits. I yelled "Lucky Charm!", and hoped for the best.

A package of fire-crackers appeared right in front of me. I was thinking hard about how to put it to good use and suddenly Rogers gun and the burning chimney in the entrance room came to my mind. I lurked out of cover, grabbed the Officers gun with my yo-yo and threw the fire-crackers into the middle of a burning pile of wood in the chimney.

The smoke from the exploding fire-crackers filled the air and triggered the sprinkler system. I used this opportunity to run across the room, towards the kicked in doors. I managed to run past a very confused Roger and slid through the legs of another policeman who wanted to grab me. The last officer tried to block my way out, so I got no other choice than to slam him into the wall of the hallway. It felt so wrong to fight the police, but sadly it wasn't the first time I had to do this, like when Roger got akumatized. Trying to escape, I ran down the hallway as fast as I could until I saw a door to a fire exit. I knocked it down and jumped back into the cold and rainy night.

I tried to stay calm as I processed everything that happened during the last few minutes. Nothing of this made any sense. I wasn't sure how, or why, but there was only one conclusion. Somebody just killed the mayor and framed me for it.

 


	2. The Way Home

I had 3 Minutes before my transformation was going to wear off. I decided to get as far away as possible, but I couldn't run home immediately as the risk of revealing my true identity now was greater than ever before. I moved a few blocks into the opposite direction and noticed that I still held Rogers gun in my hand, so I tossed it into the Seine. I noticed an old and probably abandoned warehouse near a dark alley, so I swung in there through a broken window and detransformed behind some cover.

Tikki flew out of my earrings as my transformation wore off. "Marinette, are you okay?"

I sat down on the ground, not making much effort to move. It took only a few minutes to turn my life and probably all of Paris upside down. I still tried to realize what happened. Chloé's father was killed and the police thought I was his murderer. They didn't even bother listening to me. Why did they do that? I always helped them out. I was so lost in my own thoughts that I did not notice that I started crying. Tears were running down my face like a waterfall, matching the heavy rain outside. Being a wanted killer was a huge problem, but what really haunted me was the thought of not being good enough. I felt like it was my fault that somebody died.

Tikki hugged me tightly in an effort to calm me down. She was small, but I still felt her warm embrace during that cold night. "I promise you, everything will turn back to being okay. I'm here for you."

It took me a while before I calmed down enough to reply. "I don't know. Right now Ladybug is a wanted criminal and Chloé lost her father. She can really be a nuisance, but nobody deserves that. She looked up to me and now she must think I took what was left of her family away from her. I couldn't do anything against it. She must have an even more horrible night than I do. I should have stopped this." My words were interrupted by heavy sobs, as my thoughts still haunted me.

It took me a moment to recover enough, so I could walk home. I forgot to bring some cookies for Tikki, so I couldn't transform again. It wouldn't be the smartest idea anyway. I heard the sound of distant sirens and it felt like every officer was on the street, looking out to arrest Ladybug. The strong rain soaked my clothing, but this was at least my tears got covered. The heavy rain and cold wind made me shiver, as I left my jacket at home since the magic suit would keep me warm while I was transformed into Ladybug. I've never been to this part of Paris as Marinette before, but it definitely looked like a girl wasn't supposed to be here during nighttime. Suddenly a dark figure jumped right in front of me. Expecting the worst, I jumped back and screamed.

I was about to make a run, as a pair of warm green eyes looked at me. That was the moment I saw the cat ears and the belt tail. I took a deep breath of relief. "Chat Noir! Don't scare me like that!"

"I'm sorry Marinette. I was on patrol and saw you walking down the street. What brings you to this area in the middle of the night, especially with all this poor weather? You aren't even wearing a raincoat." Chat teased me with his charming voice. I didn't know what to answer and he made a point. He wasn't wasting much time: "I know it's a long walk for you. Do you mind if I take you home? I don't want you to get sick."

I nodded as he picked me up. I held tightly to his chest, as I noticed a mixture of the perfume Adrien was advertising for and camembert. We were traveling over the Parisian rooftops, as I remembered that my parents thought I was lying in my bed right now. I didn't have any explanation for them why I was out this late. A sudden idea hit me. "Chat, can you please drop me off at my balcony? I will be grounded for the next month if my parents find out about this."

A few minutes later and Chat did what I asked him for. He was about to leave, as I wanted to make sure my cover wouldn't blow. "Thanks a lot, Chat Noir. You really saved me, but please don't tell anyone about this." I was trying to make up a reason. I didn't want people to come to conclusions if Marinette was walking around run-down parts of the town the same moment Ladybug disappeared after killing the mayor. Chat gave me a confused look, as I explained: "It's not like I don't like you. That was nice...I mean you are nice...I mean....look, Alya, the girl running the Ladyblog, is my best friend. If she finds out about this, she will kill me first and ask thousands of questions later."

Chat grinned at me with the sassiest smile I have ever seen: "Okay, I won't tell anyone. But you have to make a box of macarons for me. And please, make a few of them with camembert. I heard they taste pawsome." I don't know how, but he made me smile with that annoying pun. "Okay, we have a deal.", I replied. "See you tomorrow night then, Marinette. I need to check on some rumours." Chat left and headed towards Le Hotel Grand Paris.

Tikki flew out of my purse, as I dropped into my room: "Hey, look who starts stuttering around Chat Noir. And I thought you only love Adrien." I have Tikki never seen so cocky, but that cheered me up. I took a shower and went to bed, hoping to get at least a few hours of sleep.

 


	3. Falling From Grace

It was nearly 6 in the morning. Alya called me on my phone, so I woke up after just a few hours after I went to bed. She was my best friend, but why couldn't she just give me a few more hours of well-deserved sleep? I answered her call, grumbling and tired: "Morning Alya, what is it? Do you even...". She immediately cut me off: "Girl, they say Ladybug killed mayor Bourgeois! Put on the news! NOW!"

I was awake immediately and put on the TV as instructed. "This is Nadja Chamack with the 6 A.M. news: A tragedy has happened in today's early hours, as the police received a distress call from Le Hotel Grand Paris, stating that Ladybug broke into the building at 2 o'clock in the morning, as screams were heard. Police units arrived shortly after. With us is Lieutenant Roger Raincomprix, telling us what has happened."

Roger had a very serious look on his face, as he spoke to the camera. "We were witnessing how Ladybug, Paris' once beloved super-heroine, strangled mayor Bourgeois to death with the string of her yo-yo via a live feed of the hotels' security cameras. Ladybug was still met at the crime scene by police first responders. She managed to escape by disarming a police officer. I have to be specific about this: We have met her on scene. Whatever has happened to Ladybug, she isn't the heroine we once knew anymore. She is armed, extremely dangerous and on the run. Please do not get near her. Contact the police immediately if you see Ladybug, or have any hint about her real identity."

I dropped my phone as Roger spoke. All of this felt so unreal, like a bad dream. How did they manage to get video evidence of Ladybug killing the mayor, while I wasn't even in the same room as it happened? Who was that other person who snuck out and closed the window behind me?

"Hello? Marinette I can hear that you dropped me", said Alyas muffled voice through my phone that was conveniently lying on my floor. I picked it up. "I'm sorry, I dropped it in shock. Do you really think Ladybug would do something like that? I mean, she is always so nice and helpful to other people. I just can't believe she would be doing that."

Alya just had a dry reply: "Are you nuts? Of course not! I don't know what happened, but Ladybug would never do something like this! Why would she? She doesn't even have a motive. And it's not like Chat Noir wasn't in trouble, because Copy Cat stole the Mona Lisa. Do you remember the whole fuzz with Rogercop? I trust her 100%. There will be a press conference at city hall at noon. I need to be there to see the presented evidence. I will keep the Ladyblog updated on everything."

I was relieved that at least my best friend and probably Ladybugs biggest fan was on my side. But something concerned me: "Please be careful. I don't believe Ladybug is behind this either, but we don't know who did it. And this person is at least skilled enough to frame Ladybug." She told me not to worry and hang up. Alya really is a great and trustworthy friend, but right now I am glad that neither she nor Chat knew that I am Ladybug.

Thinking of Chat, I had to prepare the macarons for him. I was sure that he wasn't joking about coming back. I just dind't know why the stray cat was interested in me. And this camembert thing really made him weird. He smelled like it and even explicitly asked for camembert macarons.

I wouldn't be able to sleep now anyway, so I started making Chat's macarons. Tikki was supporting me like she always did, but I still wasn't feeling that good. I was thinking about attending the press conference as Ladybug, but the police would probably just try to arrest me.

All I could do was waiting for the press conference. Alya sure will find a way to get in, this girl was full of dedication. To be honest, I imagined her turning back into Lady Wifi just because someone denied her entry. It took me a few seconds, but then I realized something rather important. "Oh my god, Tikki what do I do if someone gets akumatized? This is the perfect opportunity for Hawk Moth to strike!"

Tikki, casually floating beside me, gave me a concerned look. "I am afraid that you're right about this. But you have to show that you still fight evil. Maybe this will change the people's minds in your favour. You're not the first Ladybug that is in trouble, but you will find a way. You are smart, quick thinking, creative, thoughtful and gathered a lot of experience. You also have Chat Noir to support you." I loved how Tikki was able to build me up again. "You're right Tikki. Hey, I just got an idea. I can ask him about what he is thinking when he comes to fetch his macarons."

Making Chat's pastry helped me to calm down. I also kept my mind busy with working on some designs and playing video games. Baking, designing fashion and playing video games were my greatest hobbies, so I wanted to do them as long as I was a free girl. I waited for the press conference to end and checked the Ladyblog and other social media to see how the public's opinion turned out.

Alya somehow managed to get acknowledged as a news representative. She filmed the hotels' security camera footage, that was shown as evidence against Ladybug. The solution wasn't the best as she filmed the whole thing from a back row, but they captured every moment. It wasn't pleasant to look at. Even I would mistake the person killing the mayor for Ladybug. As the lights turned out on the crime scene, everything was pitch black and the cameras were unable to provide useful footage, but they kept everything on tape from the second the lights turned on again.

That was how the cameras must have missed me entering through the window, how the real killer disappeared into a closet, waiting for me to show up and then making her escape.

The next thing the cameras caught on tape was me, the real Ladybug, being next to the dead mayor, police rushing the room shortly after. I wasn't able to tell a difference between the fake Ladybug that killed the mayor and me. Now it made sense why Roger wasn't listening to any word I said. He has seen "Ladybug" doing everything. He probably sat in his car, only able to watch as a man got killed right before his eyes. Knowing Roger and his strong sense for justice, he wouldn't stop hunting me, until I was behind bars.

I checked on social media, to see what people wrote about all this and it didn't look good for me. Some well-renowned psychologist had already written an article about how Ladybug was probably a teenager with too much power. He theorized that this power must have overcome her and Chat Noir could be joining Ladybug into a life of crime and terror. The article concluded that Ladybug became a public threat and needs to be stopped before she can kill again. It was shared more than a thousand times in less than 30 minutes. I knew there always were some people who didn't like me, but this was a serious problem.

A lot of people turned against Ladybug, after seeing the video from the press conference. Only a few tried to defend her. The vast majority expressed how disappointed they were because they had believed in me. How could this happen? How did I lose trust and reputation so quickly? I thought the people of Paris trusted me after everything I did to protect them. On the other hand, murder was a serious crime and it looked like everything was caught on tape.

The latest newspaper headline was: Ladybug, the angel that has fallen from grace.


	4. The Stray Cat

Social media was buzzing like somebody poked into a hornet's nest. I knew the internet was a crazy place and not everybody was my fan and I truly expected discussions to explode, but I never imagined it would be that bad. Ladybug not only got labeled as a murderer but also as a terrorist by a large number of people, a few even proposed to hunt her down. A guy who had spoken up for Ladybug got insulted, one weirdo even wished his family to get killed by Ladybug so that he can feel the same pain as Chloé. I was shocked at how extremely angry and aggressive people got about me or even the few people who supported me. All I wanted was to prove my innocence...until now. People were and probably always will be extremely mean, aggressive and a total dick on the internet. Alya always told me to be chill about it since most of them were just seeking attention and drama to prove themselves, but I didn't know if I could endure all this hate.

Tears ran down my face again. This was just way too much for me to handle. I felt so powerless when I was unable to save Chloé's father. I felt so powerless when Roger didn't believe me. And I felt so powerless in that very moment as there was nothing I could do to change the public mood. Everything reduced me to a weak, crying mess.

Tikki tried to comfort me, offering kind words and telling me to focus on positive thoughts. But this wasn't something my lucky charm could change.

Alya called me an hour after the press conference had ended. She obviously was busy, otherwise, she would have called me the second she left the city hall: "Hey Mari, you wouldn't believe me how crowded city hall was. There were people everywhere, heavily guarded by riot police. Have you seen the evidence video?"

I did not wonder about officers being all around. Good thing I didn't show up as Ladybug. "Yeah, I have seen it. It doesn't look good for Ladybug and seems like Paris really hates her now. I could understand if she didn't want to show up again. Even I am not sure what to think right now." The last part was a blatant lie, but I wanted to know if Alya really believes in Ladybug. And I was looking for a reason not to quit.

My best friend instantly flipped out. "Ladybug is innocent, she would NEVER do something like that. This whole thing reeks and I will find out why. I don't know why you even doubt her. I don't know how, but I will find out the truth!" I clearly heard the fire in her voice. The fight was on and Alya was ready.

It made me happy to know my best friend still believed in me. "I'm glad you are still yourself. Half of the internet is on a rampage against Ladybug. So PLEASE be careful. I don't want something to happen to you."

"Don't worry, I'm not afraid of anyone. That's why you need to be tough as nails if you want to become a journalist", she said with a laugh in her voice.

I knew it was mean, but I just wanted to tease her a little: "Right, I know how dedicated you are. You will probably turn back into Lady Wifi if you have to." I somehow felt sorry, but joking around with Alya really made me feel more comfortable. A feeling I desperately needed, since I wasn't thrilled about the idea of getting akumatized.

Alya needed a second to think about what to reply: "You always wanted to tease me with that incident, didn't you? Anyway, I need to go. My Parents want to go out, so I have babysitting duties. See ya on Monday."

Tikki was hovering close to me the whole day. It she wasn't even trying to conceal her worries: "Marinette, do you really think about giving up on being Ladybug? Who is going to deal with Hawk Moth and his Akumas?"

"I don't know Tikki, I really don't know. Paris needs Ladybug, but at the same time hates her. They think she's a killer", I told my Kwami with a sad tone. I saw the concern in her eyes, while she moved closer to hug me. "I don't think that I can carry on. Please understand."

The little Kwami was deeply concerned about me and made no effort to hide it. "Maybe you should ask Master Fu for advice? I'm sure he will be able to help you."

I had mixed feelings while I left the house. One part of me just wanted to give up and stop being Ladybug, but another part of me hoped for Master Fu to have some helpful advice.

We arrived at his place after half an hour, knocked on his door and entered.  Master Fu sat on a pillow in the middle of the room. "I was expecting you Marinette. Please sit down and have a cup of wonderful fresh tea."

I gladly accepted his kind offer, as he was the only one besides Tikki who knew about my situation. "Master, I don't know what to do. I feel so powerless. Someone died because I was too slow."

His voice calm and steady like always, Fu looked deep into me eyes. "Please tell me, did you kill mayor Burgeois? I don't think so, but you act like you did."

His question shocked me, so I immediately reasponded without thinking. "What? Of course not! But I couldn't save him and everybody blames me for killing him anyway.

The old man slowly lowered his cup after drinking from the hot tea. "I know how you feel Marinette. I made a huge mistake myself, which resulted in the destruction of the temple of the guardians and the loss of the butterfly and peacock miraculous."

He left a short pause to take in a deep breath while he looked down at the ground with a sad expression in his eyes. "Your expression tells me that you're still grieving about this. Don't blame yourself, this happened a long time ago."

 

"This is not the point Marinette. It still was my fault. There's no use in denying it." Oh no, I wasn't here to drown him in the sea of my own tears. I had to do something. "But you're doing a great job by protecting the miraculous. You made up for your mistakes and that's what counts!"

The sad face turned into a huge smug grin. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I knew you were a wise person. You came for advice, but found it all on your own. I believe in you. Life gives us trials, but we grow by beating them."

My jaw dropped as he basically used rhetociral judo to direct my own arguments against me. "So...so you're telling me to continue and maybe everything will get better?" Fu took another sip from his tea. "It will if you keep working on this. You will see what I mean. I trust you."

Master Fu was right, giving up was no option. I made my way home and tried to think happy thoughts, so I continued to work on two of my favourite hobbies: Designing and drooling over Adrien. He was so gorgeous. I still had some time before Chat Noir will come. That's when I was hit by an idea: I will make a Chat Noir themed Coat for Adrien. He asked me about Chat after the Evillustrator incident like he was a fan. I also "accidentally" heard how he mentioned Chat Noir a few times, while he spoke to Nino. It would be a nice Christmas present.

The day flew by, as I made my sketches and started sewing. Tikki flew by me, munching on a few of the macaroons I made. It was 11 PM, as someone knocked on the hatch of my balcony and I had a pretty good idea who this person could be. I opened up and saw the familiar green cat eyes that looked so warm. I could lose myself in those Eyes if I wouldn't know any better. He loves Ladybug and I love Adrien. I promised him to not toy with his feelings, but I have to admit that I probably would have a crush on him if I wouldn't have already been fallen for Adrien. We somehow share the same burden.

"Hey Marinette, I know I look sexy but can you please let me in? It's cold and windy out here." I snapped out of my own thoughts and as I replied: "Oh, I'm sorry. It's not like Paris' greatest Superhero knocks on my door every day. I bet you're used to it."

Chat dropped in: "No, you are the only person I visit as my superhero persona. You looked so sad last time and I was nearby. And I brought you home yesterday. I just came to get a taste of your delicious macaroons."

It took me a second: "How do you know what my macaroons taste like? I can't remember ever giving one to you or Ladybug. Do I know you?" Okay, the last part was just me messing with him. I was sure I do not know him, none of my friends nor classmates were this flirtatious and I would have noticed someone constantly making annoying puns.

He put on a deep grin: "Probably not, I just snuck one after Ladybug has defeated the Akuma at Chloé's party and someone mentioned that you made them. By the way: Why am I your favourite hero? What about Ladybug?"

I did not expect an answer to my question, as I was clearly just teasing him. He still made a solid point. Maybe I shouldn't push his ego, but I somehow feel he deserved it: "You are always there to protect Ladybug, always willing to sacrifice yourself to protect her. Do you remember how you kept all those kissing Zombies away? Ladybug must be really grateful to have your support. A partner she can always count on." I could say what was on my mind as Marinette without having to deal with a purring punmaster for the next hour. The last part was a bit manipulative and I knew that, but I needed to test his reaction. I need his full support if I want to prove my innocence.

I expected him to show off and to start purring or bragging about how he needs to protect his lady or stuff like that. "How do you know about me sacrificing myself for Ladybug? We were on top of the Eiffel Tower and the girl running the Ladyblog was turned into one of Zombizou's slaves. Is there something I should know about?"

His question hit my face like a baseball bat. I wasn't thinking about what I said and it left me shocked. This detail from the fight against Zombizou wasn't on the Ladyblog, so I had to come up with something: "I was hiding on a nearby rooftop. I have seen everything, you were so brave protecting Ladybug and Chloé..." I stopped talking as I said her name. Poor Chloé, she just lost her father. She was a bitch, but I still feel sad for her.

Chat broke the silence: "I'm just kidding. That's what you get for teasing me." He noticed me becoming quiet. "Chloé is in your class, right? It's obvious you are grieving with her", his voice turned down to a slow and sad tone.

It was the perfect opportunity to change the topic and address the elephant in the room: "The police says it was Ladybug who killed her dad. They even have her on tape and met her on the scene. Do you think she did it? Killing Chloé's father? Do you still trust her?" My voice was sad as I was trying my best not to cry.

Chat put on a serious face: "I haven't spoken to her yet and she skipped today's patrol. I can understand that she isn't going to show herself with half of Paris being on the hunt. I already spoke with the chief of police but he said he already issued a warrant and he can't revoke it until there is evidence in favour of Ladybug. He was sad and confused about what has happened, but he has no other choice." He left or short pause as he sighed: "I trust my Lady. I trust her with my life. I always did and I will ever do. I have seen the video, but this wasn't her. I can tell that from the way she moves. My lady moves graceful and smooth, like a dancer. The most beautiful dancer I have ever seen in my life. I will find this faking bitch that has killed the mayor and tarnished my lady's honour and I will make her pay for it." His emerald-green eyes seemed to light up with fire. To be honest, he had more trust in me than I did.

His words and confidence put a smile on my face: "Chloé must be really angry. I wonder why she hasn't been akumatized yet. She must hate Ladybug for killing her only family. Isn't that the perfect opportunity for Hawk Moth to strike? What are you going to do if Ladybug doesn't show up?"

"If push comes to shove, she will be there for me. She shouldn't try to speak to Chloé since the police is guarding her and my lady will be arrested **on the spot** , but I know I can count on her. I think Hawk Moth is up to something. You're right about him being noticeably absent."

He put on his cocky grin again: "Hey, I have never seen you getting akumatized. You're sure you aren't Hawk Moth?"

We both were bursting into hilarious laughter. I handed him his box of macaroons, as he was looking around my room. I put down all pictures of Adrien in advance since I don't know if the stray cat can keep his mouth shut, or will tell everything to Adrien the next minute. He noticed my open sketchbook: "Are you making a winter coat with a Chat Noir theme? You just told me you are a fan, but you never told me you admire me that much."

I flinched, but I just got an idea: "Actually it is for you since it starts getting cold outside. It will take me a few more days to get it completed. Why don't you visit me again on Tuesday evening to pick it up? You also just gave me an idea, but I will need some time." I felt wrong to have my partner around me as Marinette, but I don't want to turn into Ladybug unless absolutely necessary.

He thought about it and nodded: "Okay, I will come. Everything is better than doing nothing. Also, the sketch looks awesome. You should turn it in for a contest after the public mood has cooled down. It was fun talking to you, but I have to go now. See ya Marinette."

"Goodbye Chat", I said as he jumped away into the cold night. The sky was clouded, not a single star to be seen. I planned the coat for Adrien, but it was the purrfect reason to talk to Chat Noir again without turning into Ladybug. With plans being made, I laid down in my bed to sleep. I will be busy during the next few days.

 


	5. Shocking News

Social media was buzzing like somebody poked into a hornet's nest. I knew the internet was a crazy place and not everybody was my fan and I truly expected discussions to explode, but I never imagined it would be that bad. Ladybug not only got labeled as a murderer but also as a terrorist by a large number of people, a few even proposed to hunt her down. A guy who had spoken up for Ladybug got insulted, one weirdo even wished his family to get killed by Ladybug so that he can feel the same pain as Chloé. I was shocked at how extremely angry and aggressive people got about me or even the few people who supported me. All I wanted was to prove my innocence...until now. People were and probably always will be extremely mean, aggressive and a total dick on the internet. Alya always told me to be chill about it since most of them were just seeking attention and drama to prove themselves, but I didn't know if I could endure all this hate.

Tears ran down my face again. This was just way too much for me to handle. I felt so powerless when I was unable to save Chloé's father. I felt so powerless when Roger didn't believe me. And I felt so powerless in that very moment as there was nothing I could do to change the public mood. Everything reduced me to a weak, crying mess.

Tikki tried to comfort me, offering kind words and telling me to focus on positive thoughts. But this wasn't something my lucky charm could change.

Alya called me an hour after the press conference had ended. She obviously was busy, otherwise, she would have called me the second she left the city hall: "Hey Mari, you wouldn't believe me how crowded city hall was. There were people everywhere, heavily guarded by riot police. Have you seen the evidence video?"

I did not wonder about officers being all around. Good thing I didn't show up as Ladybug. "Yeah, I have seen it. It doesn't look good for Ladybug and seems like Paris really hates her now. I could understand if she didn't want to show up again. Even I am not sure what to think right now." The last part was a blatant lie, but I wanted to know if Alya really believes in Ladybug. And I was looking for a reason not to quit.

My best friend instantly flipped out. "Ladybug is innocent, she would NEVER do something like that. This whole thing reeks and I will find out why. I don't know why you even doubt her. I don't know how, but I will find out the truth!" I clearly heard the fire in her voice. The fight was on and Alya was ready.

It made me happy to know my best friend still believed in me. "I'm glad you are still yourself. Half of the internet is on a rampage against Ladybug. So PLEASE be careful. I don't want something to happen to you."

"Don't worry, I'm not afraid of anyone. That's why you need to be tough as nails if you want to become a journalist", she said with a laugh in her voice.

I knew it was mean, but I just wanted to tease her a little: "Right, I know how dedicated you are. You will probably turn back into Lady Wifi if you have to." I somehow felt sorry, but joking around with Alya really made me feel more comfortable. A feeling I desperately needed, since I wasn't thrilled about the idea of getting akumatized.

Alya needed a second to think about what to reply: "You always wanted to tease me with that incident, didn't you? Anyway, I need to go. My Parents want to go out, so I have babysitting duties. See ya on Monday."

Tikki was hovering close to me the whole day. It she wasn't even trying to conceal her worries: "Marinette, do you really think about giving up on being Ladybug? Who is going to deal with Hawk Moth and his Akumas?"

"I don't know Tikki, I really don't know. Paris needs Ladybug, but at the same time hates her. They think she's a killer", I told my Kwami with a sad tone. I saw the concern in her eyes, while she moved closer to hug me. "I don't think that I can carry on. Please understand."

The little Kwami was deeply concerned about me and made no effort to hide it. "Maybe you should ask Master Fu for advice? I'm sure he will be able to help you."

I had mixed feelings while I left the house. One part of me just wanted to give up and stop being Ladybug, but another part of me hoped for Master Fu to have some helpful advice.

We arrived at his place after half an hour, knocked on his door and entered.  Master Fu sat on a pillow in the middle of the room. "I was expecting you Marinette. Please sit down and have a cup of wonderful fresh tea."

I gladly accepted his kind offer, as he was the only one besides Tikki who knew about my situation. "Master, I don't know what to do. I feel so powerless. Someone died because I was too slow."

His voice calm and steady like always, Fu looked deep into me eyes. "Please tell me, did you kill mayor Burgeois? I don't think so, but you act like you did."

His question shocked me, so I immediately reasponded without thinking. "What? Of course not! But I couldn't save him and everybody blames me for killing him anyway.

The old man slowly lowered his cup after drinking from the hot tea. "I know how you feel Marinette. I made a huge mistake myself, which resulted in the destruction of the temple of the guardians and the loss of the butterfly and peacock miraculous."

He left a short pause to take in a deep breath while he looked down at the ground with a sad expression in his eyes. "Your expression tells me that you're still grieving about this. Don't blame yourself, this happened a long time ago."

 

"This is not the point Marinette. It still was my fault. There's no use in denying it." Oh no, I wasn't here to drown him in the sea of my own tears. I had to do something. "But you're doing a great job by protecting the miraculous. You made up for your mistakes and that's what counts!"

The sad face turned into a huge smug grin. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I knew you were a wise person. You came for advice, but found it all on your own. I believe in you. Life gives us trials, but we grow by beating them."

My jaw dropped as he basically used rhetociral judo to direct my own arguments against me. "So...so you're telling me to continue and maybe everything will get better?" Fu took another sip from his tea. "It will if you keep working on this. You will see what I mean. I trust you."

Master Fu was right, giving up was no option. I made my way home and tried to think happy thoughts, so I continued to work on two of my favourite hobbies: Designing and drooling over Adrien. He was so gorgeous. I still had some time before Chat Noir will come. That's when I was hit by an idea: I will make a Chat Noir themed Coat for Adrien. He asked me about Chat after the Evillustrator incident like he was a fan. I also "accidentally" heard how he mentioned Chat Noir a few times, while he spoke to Nino. It would be a nice Christmas present.

The day flew by, as I made my sketches and started sewing. Tikki flew by me, munching on a few of the macaroons I made. It was 11 PM, as someone knocked on the hatch of my balcony and I had a pretty good idea who this person could be. I opened up and saw the familiar green cat eyes that looked so warm. I could lose myself in those Eyes if I wouldn't know any better. He loves Ladybug and I love Adrien. I promised him to not toy with his feelings, but I have to admit that I probably would have a crush on him if I wouldn't have already been fallen for Adrien. We somehow share the same burden.

"Hey Marinette, I know I look sexy but can you please let me in? It's cold and windy out here." I snapped out of my own thoughts and as I replied: "Oh, I'm sorry. It's not like Paris' greatest Superhero knocks on my door every day. I bet you're used to it."

Chat dropped in: "No, you are the only person I visit as my superhero persona. You looked so sad last time and I was nearby. And I brought you home yesterday. I just came to get a taste of your delicious macaroons."

It took me a second: "How do you know what my macaroons taste like? I can't remember ever giving one to you or Ladybug. Do I know you?" Okay, the last part was just me messing with him. I was sure I do not know him, none of my friends nor classmates were this flirtatious and I would have noticed someone constantly making annoying puns.

He put on a deep grin: "Probably not, I just snuck one after Ladybug has defeated the Akuma at Chloé's party and someone mentioned that you made them. By the way: Why am I your favourite hero? What about Ladybug?"

I did not expect an answer to my question, as I was clearly just teasing him. He still made a solid point. Maybe I shouldn't push his ego, but I somehow feel he deserved it: "You are always there to protect Ladybug, always willing to sacrifice yourself to protect her. Do you remember how you kept all those kissing Zombies away? Ladybug must be really grateful to have your support. A partner she can always count on." I could say what was on my mind as Marinette without having to deal with a purring punmaster for the next hour. The last part was a bit manipulative and I knew that, but I needed to test his reaction. I need his full support if I want to prove my innocence.

I expected him to show off and to start purring or bragging about how he needs to protect his lady or stuff like that. "How do you know about me sacrificing myself for Ladybug? We were on top of the Eiffel Tower and the girl running the Ladyblog was turned into one of Zombizou's slaves. Is there something I should know about?"

His question hit my face like a baseball bat. I wasn't thinking about what I said and it left me shocked. This detail from the fight against Zombizou wasn't on the Ladyblog, so I had to come up with something: "I was hiding on a nearby rooftop. I have seen everything, you were so brave protecting Ladybug and Chloé..." I stopped talking as I said her name. Poor Chloé, she just lost her father. She was a bitch, but I still feel sad for her.

Chat broke the silence: "I'm just kidding. That's what you get for teasing me." He noticed me becoming quiet. "Chloé is in your class, right? It's obvious you are grieving with her", his voice turned down to a slow and sad tone.

It was the perfect opportunity to change the topic and address the elephant in the room: "The police says it was Ladybug who killed her dad. They even have her on tape and met her on the scene. Do you think she did it? Killing Chloé's father? Do you still trust her?" My voice was sad as I was trying my best not to cry.

Chat put on a serious face: "I haven't spoken to her yet and she skipped today's patrol. I can understand that she isn't going to show herself with half of Paris being on the hunt. I already spoke with the chief of police but he said he already issued a warrant and he can't revoke it until there is evidence in favour of Ladybug. He was sad and confused about what has happened, but he has no other choice." He left or short pause as he sighed: "I trust my Lady. I trust her with my life. I always did and I will ever do. I have seen the video, but this wasn't her. I can tell that from the way she moves. My lady moves graceful and smooth, like a dancer. The most beautiful dancer I have ever seen in my life. I will find this faking bitch that has killed the mayor and tarnished my lady's honour and I will make her pay for it." His emerald-green eyes seemed to light up with fire. To be honest, he had more trust in me than I did.

His words and confidence put a smile on my face: "Chloé must be really angry. I wonder why she hasn't been akumatized yet. She must hate Ladybug for killing her only family. Isn't that the perfect opportunity for Hawk Moth to strike? What are you going to do if Ladybug doesn't show up?"

"If push comes to shove, she will be there for me. She shouldn't try to speak to Chloé since the police is guarding her and my lady will be arrested **on the spot** , but I know I can count on her. I think Hawk Moth is up to something. You're right about him being noticeably absent."

He put on his cocky grin again: "Hey, I have never seen you getting akumatized. You're sure you aren't Hawk Moth?"

We both were bursting into hilarious laughter. I handed him his box of macaroons, as he was looking around my room. I put down all pictures of Adrien in advance since I don't know if the stray cat can keep his mouth shut, or will tell everything to Adrien the next minute. He noticed my open sketchbook: "Are you making a winter coat with a Chat Noir theme? You just told me you are a fan, but you never told me you admire me that much."

I flinched, but I just got an idea: "Actually it is for you since it starts getting cold outside. It will take me a few more days to get it completed. Why don't you visit me again on Tuesday evening to pick it up? You also just gave me an idea, but I will need some time." I felt wrong to have my partner around me as Marinette, but I don't want to turn into Ladybug unless absolutely necessary.

He thought about it and nodded: "Okay, I will come. Everything is better than doing nothing. Also, the sketch looks awesome. You should turn it in for a contest after the public mood has cooled down. It was fun talking to you, but I have to go now. See ya Marinette."

"Goodbye Chat", I said as he jumped away into the cold night. The sky was clouded, not a single star to be seen. I planned the coat for Adrien, but it was the purrfect reason to talk to Chat Noir again without turning into Ladybug. With plans being made, I laid down in my bed to sleep. I will be busy during the next few days.

 


	6. The Funeral

It was Tuesday morning. I haven't heard anything from Chat since our next appointment was this evening. I spent Monday with going to school and finishing Chat's winter coat. It was a lot of work because I had given myself a short deadline, but I still wanted to make a great coat with lots of details. Chat still was someone special to me, as a partner and a close friend.

I woke up early as usual for the past days. Finding a dead body, getting blamed for murder, running from the police and being torn apart on the news and social media wasn't on my list for a great weekend. At least I still had Chat, Alya, and Tikki.

It was time to meet up with Alya and the rest of the class. Every one of us attended the funeral. I felt guilty and the bright sun that was shining this morning wasn't fitting into anyone's mood. Everybody was wearing black, including me. It was a seemingly endless sea of black, with no white in between. Every word of the priest's speech was hurting me because I felt responsible. Tikki often told me that I couldn't have done anything about it, but I didn't buy it. I tried to pull myself together, as I wasn't the one who had lost her father. The past days must have been hell for Chloé.

The funeral took some time, as a lot of people were holding a speech, including Gabriel Agreste, who spoke first. Adrien told me he and his father had to leave early, because of some very important business meeting or something along these lines. Even he thought his father's behaviour was kind of strange, but Gabriel acting weird seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary for anyone of us.

Chloé was standing beside her father's grave as his coffin was slowly put down into the earth. She was devastated and crying. Not the fake tears she pulled out in class sometimes. Those were real tears and real emotions as this probably was her darkest hour. Time seemed to stop, as a small black butterfly approached her, melting into her necklace.

 _Hello young Lady,_ _this_ _is_ _how_ _we_ _meet_ _again_ _. I am_ _Hawk_ _Moth_ _and_ _we_ _both_ _know_ _who is_ _responsible_ _for_ _your_ _beloved_ _father's_ _death_ _._ _There_ _is no way_ _Ladybug_ _is missing_ _this_ _._ _She_ _must_ _be_ _nearby_ _. I will_ _grant_ _you_ _the_ _power_ _to_ _avenge_ _your_ _father_ _! All_ _you_ _need_ _to_ _do is_ _handing_ _out her_ _miraculous_ _to_ _me after_ _you_ _are_ _done_ _with_ _her._

This wasn't good. I was in the middle of the crowd and everyone started panicking, as Chloé turned into Antibug. I turned around, as Alya took out her phone to film the whole scene. This girl truly had a death wish, so I grabbed her arm and pulled her along with me. Suddenly Antibug jumped in front of us, kicking me to the ground and taking Alya with her as she jumped on top of the church, yelling: "Ladybug I know you see this. I give you one minute to show yourself, or I will take the life of your biggest fan, just like you took the life of my father!"

Hawk Moth probably waited for this opportunity. I couldn't deny it, this could have been me if I was Chloé. I ran to one of the many exits and jumped into the nearest back-alley to transform into Ladybug without being seen.

I swung back as Antibug yelled: "Time is up, Ladybug!" I was still several hundred meters away and wouldn't make it in time to catch Alya and defend myself from Antibug, so I immediately yelled: "Lucky Charm!"

A self-inflating cushion appeared in my hands, as I was jumping from building to building. Antibug's grip on Alya loosened and my best friend fell to the ground. I threw the cushion and it landed beneath her, inflating enough to catch her safely. Antibug instantly attacked me as soon as I attached my Yo-Yo to the church's tower. I fell down but managed to land on the church's main roof. I would have never been able to catch Alya without using my Lucky Charm. This was way too close for comfort.

I heard police sirens, as Antibug yelled: "Anti-charm!" A boomerang appeared in her hands. To be honest, I had seen her handling more dangerous things. She threw it in my direction but even failed to hit me, so she continued attacking me with her Yo-Yo. I defended myself by blocking the barrage of her attacks with my own weapon. I firmly hold my ground as something suddenly hit the back of my head with enough force to distract me.

This gave Antibug the opening she needed, as she entangled me with her Yo-Yo, while mine was missing its target. She grabbed the long string of my Yo-Yo, wrapped it around my neck and started to strangle me with it. I could barely move as Antibug whispered into my ear: "How does it feel being choked to death with your own Yo-Yo? You can't do anything, except waiting for your death. Just like my father."

I felt a lot of pain at first, but it vanished just like the colour of every object in front of my eyes. I felt a tear running down my mask as I expected the worst. I wasn't ready to die. I stopped feeling anything, as everything turned black.

The next thing I saw was a bright orange-reddish light. So bright, that it actually hurt. That wasn't what I thought would happen to me. I felt dizzy but I heard a familiar voice and the sound of fighting, as my hearing came back to me. I opened my eyes just to realize that I was still alive. I looked into the bright sun, still feeling this one tear on my face.

"Get up Ladybug!", yelled Chat Noir. He must have arrived in the last second to save me. My miraculous started to beep and it sounded like I still had 3 minutes left. Antibug was no enemy for the two of us. She jumped down the Church to get another hold of Alya who was still filming. We followed her and engaged again. I kept attacking Antibug with my Yo-Yo as Chat used his staff to swipe her off her feet. I grabbed her Necklace, ripped it apart and cleansed the Akuma. I threw my Lucky Charm in the air, as I yelled: "Miraculous Ladybug!"

My miraculous beeped again, telling me I only had 2 minutes left, but still wanted to attend Chloé. "I am innocent Chloé and feel sorry for your loss. Thank you Chat Noir, Bug out!"

I was swinging over a nearby bridge, as a heavy net hit me like a wrecking ball, making me fall to the ground. Policemen rushed me from all sides as I tried to get rid of this stupid piece of anti-riot gear. What would happen to me first? Would I transform back in front of everyone? Would the Officers get me and take my miraculous?

Chat jumped onto the bridge, yelling "CATACLYSM!" The whole structure erupted and fell into the Seine. The cold water splashed into my face, as Chat grabbed my arm and took me out of this misery. He managed to save me twice in the last few minutes. There was no point in denying, I owed him big time.

The last warning beep of my miraculous interrupted my thoughts and brought me back into reality. We were already several hundreds of meters away from the bridge, while I was holding myself close onto his shoulders. I smelled Adrien's perfume and a light scent of camembert.

"I will put you down in this back-alley my lady. Nobody will be able to see you detransform. Please be more careful, I don't know what I would do if something ever happens to you", he said with a sad and shaking voice as he dropped me off. The flirty knight in black and shiny leather left.

My transformation wore off a few seconds later and a very exhausted Tikki pulled me into a hug: "This was a close call Marinette. Please be more careful and never do this alone again." I replied to my Kwami in a calm voice. "I'm sorry Tikki, but I had to. Otherwise, Alya would have been killed. But you're right, I have to be more careful. I didn't expect this boomerang to actually come back and hit me. This won't happen again, promised."

It sounded like I was calming her down, but in reality, I tried to calm down myself. I just cheated death and my neck still hurt. It took out my phone as an improvised mirror to see bright red marks of a string. I pulled up the collar of my jacket, so nobody would see it. I went back home, while Tikki was resting in my purse.

I was attending the funeral of a man I could have saved while being blamed for killing him. My best friend almost got killed by an Akuma and Chat had to save me twice. I nearly died for being Ladybug. I thought this day couldn't get much worse. How many bad luck can I have? Shouldn't Ladybug be lucky?

My phone rang as Alya called me. "Hey girl, where are you? Are you hurt?"

I was about to give her a speech: "Yeah, I'm fine. I ran as fast as I could. Something YOU should have done too! You nearly died for your stupid blog!" Tears started streaming down my face. I couldn't bear the thought of losing her. Especially not to something so unimportant like a blog.

Alya got upset: "Hey my blog isn't stupid! You know how important this is to..." She took a pause as her voice started to become silent and thoughtful: "Hey, are you crying? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

I pulled my injured self together: "It's okay. I didn't mean to hurt you either. I am just worried. Can we please change the topic before I start to cry? I bet you have everything on camera and found someone for an interview."

She took a moment to process what I just said: "It is something like that. Chat Noir attacked the police to save Ladybug. He destroyed a complete bridge to save her from getting arrested. Police are currently busy looking for everyone. They said they are now looking out for Chat Noir too because he busted out Ladybug. Can you believe that?"

I kept walking home while I was talking to Alya. I finally arrived at our bakery, so I hung up and sneaked into the bathroom, applying makeup to my neck and putting on a scarf, since I didn't want my parents to ask any questions.

Chat Noir now was a wanted criminal because he saved me. This was not fair. I hope he won't get caught when he visited me this night.


	7. Rogue Noir

I felt bad for leaving the funeral early. Everyone from my class was there and of all the people, Chloé was the one who needed me most. I knew she wasn't the nicest person to everyone, but I still thought she is a troubled child. She had her very own problems, which she never liked talking about. But she was getting better, she admitted to the mistakes she made after Ladybug and I defeated Zombizou a few weeks ago. Still, Sabrina was her only other friend, so I felt guilty for not being by her side.

I did not know what was up, but my father told me about some serious business partners from the USA and Japan, which we had to meet today. He told me the meeting was already set and not attending would hurt our reputation and his whole company. This was so typical of him, cold and distant as always. I promised Chloé to visit her later that day. I still received strange looks from lots of people for leaving the funeral early. I hoped they don't hate me for this.

As I was changing my clothes to a more bright and colourful outfit, my father told me that the meeting was canceled due to a delayed flight, but I should stay inside just in case something would change the schedule again. Talk about the black cat's bad luck. Being basically grounded I put on the TV, to watch the live broadcast of the funeral. Everything seemed fine...until Chloé got akumatized.

I immediately yelled for Plagg who was trying to eat a piece of his beloved stinky cheese. I transformed and jumped out of the window. It took me some time to get back to the cemetery, but I had no idea that I nearly would have been too late. I saw how Antibug was strangling my lady, how the love of my life stopped resisting and passed out. I threw my baton with all my strength and managed to hit Antibugs head, which made her loosen her grip. I shoved her away from the now unconscious Ladybug and engaged in a hand to hand fight.

It took some time for bugaboo to get up again, but she still lived. I would have snapped if she would have died, giving Hawk Moth a firsthand experience of my cataclysm. We defeated Antibug together but the girl of my dreams was suddenly hit by a huge net, probably launched from a canon. I knew the police was upgrading its riot gear, but this wasn't fair at all. Ladybug was immobilized on the middle of a bridge as dozens of policemen were charging at her. I wasn't thinking at all, just doing what needed to be done. Before I could second guess myself I destroyed the bridge with my cataclysm, forcing everyone to take a bath in my favourite river. I fished for Ladybug as she still seemed to be weak, while her transformation could wear off every second. I placed her in a safe area to de-transform and made sure to be back home as soon as possible.

I thought about peeking, but I knew how important it was for her not to know who each other was. I would have revealed myself to her long time ago, but she didn't want that. It was hard to respect her decision. If we knew each other's civilian identities, I could visit her in her civil life and make a plan to prove her innocence and restore her honour.

I made it back home before anyone noticed that I was gone for a while. I fed Plagg some of his beloved smelly camembert and took some of Marinettes macarons for myself. Damn, those were good. Thinking of Marinette, I remembered to visit her this evening. This could become a long night, so I got some sleep while I still could.

It was 10 P.M. as I decided to transform and sneak out to visit Marinette. Of course, I knew the police looked out for Chat Noir, but I was good at hiding in the darkness. I got to Marinette's balcony without any problems and knocked on her trapdoor. She opened up and I dropped into her beautiful room that was so full of life and passion. It felt more like a home than my own cold and empty prison cell that rivaled the size of some gyms.

Her bluebell eyes were looking at me, with all her deep shades of blue. A blue so deep like an ocean. After a few seconds, I started wondering myself why she was wearing a scarf. It wasn't that cold and she never acted like she starts freezing quickly. She also just wore a T-shirt, without a jacket or pullover. Knowing her sense for fashion, I never expected her to do that.

She interrupted me, as I was lost in my own thoughts. "Hey kitty, are you still conscious? I heard you had a horrible day and I feel so sorry for you. Is there anything I can do for you?"

I started looking around in the room to act less weird. "Yeah, uhm...I had a bad day. But I'm glad I could save my ladies life. She wasn't on patrol the last days, so seeing her made me at least a little happy, I guess."

"But now you are a wanted criminal, all because you saved Ladybug. Do you think she feels guilty? What if she never comes back?", the little blueberry asked. Wait, why was I giving her cute nicknames?

I was shocked. But what if Marinette was right? "She is very emotional and caring. She will probably blame herself for not being strong enough." I wasn't sure what to say next but I had no intention of spreading more bad mood, so I made up a cheesy one-liner. "If I can't protect my lady, you can be damn well sure I will avenge her."

She started giggling. This was the purest laugh I heard during the last week and it made me feel warm and fuzzy. "That sounds like it belongs into a movie. Anyway, do you remember Alya, the creator of the Ladyblog? She is that idiot who nearly managed to get herself killed by Antibug today and just happens to be my best friend. She told me she could try to get some evidence in favour of Ladybug, if she could get her hands on the original security footage. She told me that there are copies in the main police station and at the hotel."

I interrupted her. "So you are saying you found a first step in helping my lady? That's pawsome! I would hug you so much for that!" Again, my mouth was quick and my mind was stupid. I couldn't hug her, that felt like cheating on my lady! Well...what were the odds she actually says yes?

She suddenly jumped into my arms and hugged me tight. "You would do that for me? Thank you so much. I can't tell you how happy I am." I answered her hug. This felt so wrong but at the same time, it somehow felt right. She made me feel so comfortable like I never thought anyone besides my lady would. I really should talk to her as Adrien.

We loosened the hug, as I suggested: "I will get you this footage bring it to you by tomorrow evening. You should go to sleep, or you'll be late for school. Good night Marinette"

"Good night Chaton", she whispered as I left her room and headed for Le Hotel Grand Paris. I detransformed in a street nearby and entered the hotel. The doorman greeted me since I was one of Chloé's few friends. I tried to sneak into the technical department of the building, which housed the surveillance room. I was nearly there as a woman spoke to me from behind. "Excuse me monsieur, but may I ask you what are you doing here?"

I turned around and couldn't believe my eyes. I saw a woman with blue open, shoulder length hair, wearing the outfit of maintenance staff. She looked a lot like Marinette but seemed to be a bit taller and her face didn't match with Marinettes. But she still had deep blue eyes, just like Mari. She could easily pass as her sister and I wouldn't question it. I just made something up, as I remembered what I told Chloé this morning. "My name is Adrien, I am a good friend of Madame Bourgeois and wanted to see her, Madame.."

"Bélanger. Wait a second...are you Adrien Agreste? I mean THE Adrien Agreste? I'm sorry, please forgive me my rude behavior. It just that this area is for the staff only. May I bring you to Madame Bourgeois' room?"

I accepted and held some small talk with her. I had never seen her here, so I asked her about it. She was working here for 5 weeks and was in the control room during the evening everything happened, which caught my interest. I asked some more questions, disguising it as curiosity combined with some smooth talking. I guess she fell a bit for my model-charm, but she told me the fuse box for the upper floor had a malfunction and she had to fix it.

We arrived at Chloé's room, which was guarded by heavily armed Officers. Good thing Ladybug isn't here. I knocked on her door and Chloé pulled me in. It took me more than two hours before I was able to get out again. I claimed to need to get home, since I had school the next day, unlike her who had a valid excuse for staying home. She really thought Ladybug killed her father, but she felt disappointed. I knew she was a huge fan. Poor little Chloé really was a broken mess.

I still needed to get into the maintenance room, so I tried a different approach by transforming into my alter ego and crawling through the ventilation shafts. I was nearly there, ready to drop through a grid in the shaft into the control room, as someone opened the door, apparently answering a phone call. I did not move, as the blue-haired Madame Bélanger entered the room. "Oui Monsieur, everything is fine, but I had to delete the footage. Some young guy was walking around here a few hours ago." It was silent for a minute, so I assumed the other person on the phone was talking now. She continued: "Oui, I understand. 3 days before the election. But you better pay me extra 50% for this."

She hung up and left the room. I waited for another minute, dropped down and checked the security computer. All tapes of the last week were missing. Why did she delete them? Who the fuck is this woman? Who was she talking to? I went up the vent again, moved into an empty room and jumped out of the window. It seems like I had to pay a visit to the police station, maybe I will start finding answers instead of questions.


	8. I Will Do Anything For You, Bugaboo

It was nearly 2 o'clock in the morning, as I arrived at the Parisian police headquarters, a 10-floor building with an outrageous lack of guards or patrols outside. On the other hand, who would even try to break into a building full of police officers? People always said that curiosity killed the cat. There were several police helicopters patrolling around the city, they probably were searching for Ladybug and me. I climbed onto the roof of a nearby building and vaulted onto the top of the police station. The maintenance door on the roof was locked and breaking it open would probably trigger some kind of alarm. It wasn't the first time I got in trouble with the police and I was always ready for a little dance, but I preferred to stay hidden this time.

I decided to look for an open window. In a building this large, there was always somebody careless enough to leave one open. It didn't even take me five minutes and I slipped in through an open bathroom window on the 9th floor. I checked on the door and listened closely before I decided to open it. Since running made a lot of noise, I tried to sneak my way to the stairs. Those should be empty since people are lazy buns who prefer to take the elevator. I found a description of the different floors after taking a look around in the stairwell. The archives were in the 6th and the IT-department in the 7th floor.

I was sneaking down some stairs which were as empty as I imagined, as I reached the door to the 7th floor. It had a poster of the latest Justice League movie attached to it. Yep, I was definitely entering the nerd kingdom. There was a single guy left in one of the offices, everything else was nice and dark and quiet. I found a terminal with access to the main server, but I needed the key card from the head of IT. I walked around without making much noise, as I was looking at the signs on every door. Of course, the room I was looking for was the only one which was occupied by some guy who really should get some sleep right now. Good thing I was a superhero, ready to help him with that.

I pushed the half-closed door open, as the hinges started squeaking. The IT-guy instantly jumped from his desk turned around, but he was too late. I threw my baton right into his face and followed up with a clean hook against his head to knock him out. I tied him up with some cables and gagged him with his own tie. I took the keycard from his desk and finally got access to the main terminal. I pulled out a USB-stick and managed to find and download the original video evidence. I browsed for a few more minutes to find more notes about the incident. I wasn't even sure what exactly I was looking for, but I eventually found the report of the officer who responded the emergency call.

Actually, I never thought about who called the cops on my lady, just for them to arrive right on time to find her standing next to the dead mayor. The report stated that the voice was a bit distorted and the call had a lot of static noise in the background. The caller refused to say his or her name and said that he or she was scared. The telephone number couldn't be linked to any name because it was a pre-paid number that was only used for this one emergency call. Furthermore, the phone call was located to be coming from Le Hotel Grand Paris or an area close by. This was interesting. How could people even think that nothing strange was going on? The whole thing reeked.

I grabbed my USB-stick and was ready to leave through the stairwell, as I bumped into Sabrina's dad who apparently came to check on some files. Both of us took a second to realize the situation. He grabbed my arm, but I threw him to the ground and made a run, jumping through the next window. I missed what happened next.

Rogercop, how often do you want to get humiliated by Ladybug and Chat Noir? First, they stole your spotlight, now they are murderers and terrorists. I tried to warn you about them. He is alone, that's your chance! Take him down and bring me his miraculous, so I can destroy it.

I just got a few blocks away, as I saw a large and bulky figure stepping out of the police stations' entrance. I saw the red and blue lights flashing on his shoulders, so I recognized Rogercop immediately. I decided to run away, fighting him alone was a bad idea. Only a few seconds later and a helicopters searchlights blinded me. I tried to run for several minutes, but couldn't lose Rogercop or the helicopters in pursuit.

Marinettes room, 5 minutes earlier:

I woke up from a nightmare. I had some bad dreams during the last nights and sleeping wasn't as refreshing as before, but this one was probably the worst. I was back at this bridge, being trapped in a net. Everything was in slow motion and I couldn't move a muscle. The officers came for me, arresting me and taking my miraculous. I turned back into Marinette, now handcuffed and brought into custody. Lots of people were yelling, giving me disgusted looks. "Murderer! Hawk Moth was right about you! You're a threat! Burn this witch!"

This was the moment I woke up, crying with tears all over my face. Tikki tried to comfort me, but deep down I knew this was how people would react. I wasn't able to free myself and a part of me had already given up on fighting. I failed Mr. Bourgeios, I failed Chloé and I failed Paris. I turned on my TV to get some distraction from my own thoughts. The news reported about Chat Noir being hunted down by the police, led by Rogercop. I froze on the spot.

Tikki flew in front of me, a sad and compassionate look in her eyes: "We need to go. I know you're not feeling very good, but we can't wait until Rogercop takes control over the city again. Or even worse: The Akuma could multiply like it did when you fought Stoneheart."

I sobbed as I grabbed a piece of clothing to wipe my tears. "You're right Tikki. I failed Paris, but I won't fail Chat. I can't let him fight my battles alone. Tikki, transform me!" I quickly grabbed Chat's coat, a pen and a piece of paper. I jumped out of my trap door into the dark night and left the coat on my rooftop with a note attached to it. Probably not home, sorry kitty. Made this one for you, hope you like it.

Finding Chat wasn't the hardest job since helicopters equipped with searchlights are hard to miss. They were hovering over a park where Chat was surrounded, fighting against Rogercop who was wielding a large baton. Chat was having a hard time, as it looked like he already took some hits. Nobody seemed to notice me until now because Chat got all of the attention for him. I threw my Yo-Yo around Rogercops giant club and pulled it out of his hands, utilizing the element of surprise. I was pretty sure this was where the Akuma was hiding since he wasn't having it the last time he turned into Rogercop. I broke it and purified the Akuma before anyone even noticed me. But this fight wasn't over yet. We still had to lose the cops.

I yelled: "Chat Noir, follow me", as I grabbed his hand and dragged him down into the nearby subway station. "The helicopter cameras have night- and infrared vision. Quick, lead us through this maze made of tunnels. We can lose them here."

"Hello my pretty lady, your timing was purrfect. Hold on tight." Chat replied with a cocky but relieved smile. We ran through the darkness, my hand still holding on to his arm. It was very convenient that Chat could see in the dark. We ran for what felt like an eternity but eventually managed to escape the tunnels through a maintenance shaft near the Notre-Dame Cathedral. The helicopters were roaming around the city which was a sure sign they lost us. We vaulted upwards to hide inside one of the towers.

"Thanks for the rescue, my lady. I'd say we're even now", Chat said with the wide grin which was so typical of him.

This grin somehow annoyed me but to be honest, I was happy to see he was fine. "Nonsense, I'm still in your debt. You wouldn't even be in this situation if it wasn't for me."

His eyes lit up, as he was obviously surprised. "So you know why I went to the police station? How?"

Oh shit, I was not supposed to know this! Marinette would know but Ladybug never talked to him about the video evidence. I just tried playing dumb. "Uhm...yeah...you saved me from being caught earlier today. I would be in jail by now but you pulled me out of my miserable situation. You're wanted because of that. You would be free to go everywhere you want if I had not fucked everything up." My voice turned sad as I looked at the ground. I wasn't feeling good at all since everything I said just now was true. Chat could get busted just because he helped me.

Chats face turned serious again. "Hey bugaboo, you're not alone. Someone tries to blame you and I won't just be sitting at home and watch the love of my life disappearing, or being arrested. We are a team, remember? Maybe we are struggling alone, but we will never fail if we are working together. I will always be there and stand up for you if you can't." There it was again, the fire burning in his emerald-green eyes. I had no doubt, he would never stop even if he gets himself killed in the process.

I felt so lost, but what can I do? Because I knew this love seems real, but I didn't know how to feel. I wanted to thank him so much, but I couldn't find the words to say, so I pulled him into a hug. I stopped thinking for a second, as I kissed him on his cheek. It felt so wrong, but it also felt so right at the same time. I pulled back after I realized what I had done: "I...I...uhm...I shouldn't have done this. You know I like this other boy, but..."

Chat interrupted me in a calm tone: "It's okay. You listened to your heart. I know you don't want to play with my feelings. I..I think it is kind of sweet from you. Not the kiss...I mean yeah...the kiss was sweet too...what I mean is...you want to be honest with me and with yourself. You're not playing any games with me. I accept your feelings." This was so sweet of him. He put on his sassy face again: "But this doesn't mean I will stop flirting with you. Maybe you will change your mind and say you're mine. And I will wait for this day." His somehow evil smile made me laugh a bit.

I was amazed how he was able to make me laugh...and how he made me forget about Adrien for a moment. I loved Adrien, not Chat! Chat was just a friend. At least that's what I kept telling to myself. It was getting late and I had to do something before I lose myself again: "It seems like most helicopters are gone now. We should split before they come back. Thanks again for helping me out kitty."

Chat was bowing down like a gentleman. "I will always protect you. Be safe my lady. I still have a little delivery to make. Someone I know can analyze some evidence in your favour. I bet she is waiting for me right now."

I hoped he didn't figure me out, because I didn't want Chat to become suspicious of me. That's why I changed the topic and asked with a devilish smile. "She? Do I have to be afraid she will conquer your heart?" I started to giggle and felt a little bad for it.

"No, she's just a friend. But if you ask like that: She is really cute. Just like you, bugaboo. See you soon." Chat grinned as he jumped away into the night. I saw how he dropped a small package on my balcony which wasn't far away. He read the note, took his coat, knocked on my trap door and disappeared back into the night. I waited for another minute before I went home. I detransformed and picked up the package which contained a black USB-stick. Alya will be so excited about what Chat got. The lack of sleep kicked back in as my transformation dropped, so I went right back to bed.

I started the next morning like I always do when I'm not late. Eating breakfast and watching the news. "Good morning Paris, this is Nadja Chamack with the latest news. The wanted criminal duo Ladybug and Chat Noir raided the police headquarter last night. Police sources state that they were probably trying to destroy evidence that will be used in an upcoming trial against Ladybug. Only the fast reaction of police officers prevented them from doing so. The top candidate of the upcoming election for the next mayor - Gabriel Agreste - announced to do everything in his power to catch the former superheroes and make the streets of Paris save again."

It was hard for me to believe what I just heard. Gabriel Agreste, the fashion designer I admire and whose son I love so much, is trying to get me jailed. I have to prove my innocence, but I have the right friends to help me. I am not alone.

I went to school, trying to act normal. I talked to Alya, handing the small USB-stick to her. I explicitly instructed her to be very careful, since nobody is supposed to have a copy of these data. She stayed true to our agreement and wasn't asking me how I even got this. I couldn't just tell her that I was Ladybug.

My best friend and I were talking, as Adrien joined us. We had some typical small talk, as Alya just remembered that she had to go somewhere. Adrien wasn't even waiting for another minute before he asked: "Marinette, I have some photo shoot Sunday next week and...I need a partner for this one. My dad told me he will ask Chloé if I don't find a partner on my own. So I thought maybe you want to come?" He got a little nervous as he asked me.

"What? Me? I mean...yeah I would like to come..if that's what you want. Sure I'll be happy to do so." I tried to say anything more but turned out to be a stuttering mess. The bell rang, so we needed to hurry up. Miss Mendeleiev was known to be strict about being late. I still couldn't believe Adrien asked me to join his next photo shoot.


	9. I Would Do Anything For Love

It was the day of the photo shoot. Finally something I was looking up to after weeks of depression, bad news and insecurity. Alya told me that she was unable to make much progress with analyzing the video. Most things she noticed could already be seen in the low quality copy she already made at the press conference. At least she was still working on it. We met twice as she tried to show me her editing programs, video software and what she was looking for, but I never had any talent for this computer stuff. I felt so useless, Chat had to save me and steal the video, while Alya had to analyze it. Of course I couldn't just swing around Paris at night like this stealthy ninja-cat and neither was I a good investigator like Alya. I owed so much to both of them.

I still had a few hours before the shooting began in the late afternoon as Adrien called me. "Hello, Adrien. What's up?" I asked in an excited fashion. I managed to stop stammering the most time I talked to him by now.

He responded with a sad but calm voice: "Hey Marinette....I have to apologize, but we can't pick you up with our limousine. My dad will be on TV this evening because of the election in three days. He is all worked up about this since it's a head to head race, so he will need the car, the gorilla, and Nathalie. I know I promised you otherwise, but maybe I can walk you home after the photo shoot...if you want that."

I got even more excited. It was sweet how sorry he felt, but walking home with Adrien was something I wanted to do for a really long time. He walked me home from school once, but it didn't count since I literally live on the other side of the street. I tried to not sound overly excited about it. "That's no problem for me. I'm still very thankful for inviting me to the photo shoot. I've never done something like this before."

"The other option would have been Chloé. I want it to feel natural and not all faked up like Chloé is." We both started laughing as Adrien said this. He continued: "Anyway, my father still wants to speak to me about some instructions for the photos and all this stuff. I gotta go."

"Yeah, see you later Adrien." I hung up and took another look at the hats I made. This shooting was for an American magazine and themed after Bonnie & Clyde. Adrien asked me to make our hats because his father liked my design form the derby hat. Everything was in place as I liked it. This evening was going to be awesome.

Two hours later and I started to walk to the photo agencies studio. It was a very cold day, even for November. The last days of this autumn were even colder and windier than the rest of it. At least it wasn't raining. I still wore a pullover and a nice thick coat, because temperatures were really low in the night. Adrien told me that those shootings often took multiple hours so I came prepared.

I entered the tall building and met Adrien. We were having a little chat while he showed me around. Strangely enough, he smelled a bit like camembert and his own brand of perfume. He introduced me to the photographer, costume and make-up artist. The costume artists name was Jeanne and she was impressed as I showed my hats to her. We dressed up, got some make-up applied to us and were ready to go. It took us 4 hours until we got out again. A meeting, make-up, and dressing, taking the shots and getting dressed back to normal were pretty much work. It especially took me some time getting used to everything. There were some shots where Adrien held me in his arms and I blushed so hard that we had to interrupt everything just for applying more make-up to my face to cover my blushing.

It was 10 P.M. as Adrien and I left the building. The streets were nearly empty because it was very cold. We both were smart enough to bring thick coats with us to keep us warm, even though I wished he would keep me warm by sharing his coat with me.

We were talking about the photo shoot on our way to my home: "I'm sorry that it took so long because of me. I know I'm just an amateur, but I really had a lot of fun."

Adrien gave me a happy smile: "Actually I enjoyed this shooting just because of you. Usually, it's pretty boring and I just do it for my dad. He has a hard time since my mother...left...us. I'm really glad that I could work with someone I like. Also, you were doing quite good for your first time."

I blushed again. Did he just say that he liked me? How can this evening get any better? I was so happy: "I'm glad to hear it. I never intended to be a model, but I can help you out if you should need me." He gave me a baffled look. "In case you would end up with Chloé again, that is." We both started laughing again.

He was thinking about what to say next for a second: "No problem, I think you are.."

"Yeah tell me, she's what?" A dark-blue haired girl in a red suit with black polka dots suddenly landed in front of us.

I was shocked and confused. She looked exactly like Ladybug, her body, her hair, her mask, even the fabric and design of her suit lived up to the original. I asked with an insecure voice: "Who are you? What do you want"

"Isn't it obvious? I am Ladybug and the little Agreste sunny boy will pay for his father!" She rushed in and hit Adrien's chest with a kick, so hard he was send flying backwards for a few meters.

Adrien stood up, with a menacing look in his eyes. I knew this look from somewhere, but not from him. He always was kind, respectful and compassionate. But his eyes now were full of hate and anger. "You're nothing like Ladybug!" Adrien yelled.

Ladybug pulled out a knife and everything started to move in slow motion as she tried to rush past me to stab Adrien. I wanted to transform, not caring if anybody found out about my secret. But I had no time. I wasn't even thinking before I started to move. Adrien was the person I loved more than everything else in this world. I had to do whatever it took me to protect him. The next thing I remembered was stepping into Ladybugs way right in front of Adrien. The point of her knife hit me, I felt the sting of the cold steel inside my belly. It hurt so much, yet I wasn't able to scream. I wasn't even able to speak or move. Ladybug pulled the knife out which was covered with my blood. I fell on my knees, not able to even move a muscle. I heard sirens in the distance as Ladybug ran away and disappeared. Adrien rushed towards me, holding me in his arms.

"Marinette, please be okay. Please don't leave me. You shouldn't have done this." Everything turned blurry, dark and cold but I felt like he was crying.


	10. What have I done?

I woke up in the hospital, with my parents, Adrien and Alya at my side. Adrien immediately jumped up to get a doctor. Everyone was relieved that I woke up and started to ask questions. "Are you alright? What happened? Why did you do this?"

The doctor came in: "Hello Miss Dupain-Cheng, I am Julien Duval and serve as a surgeon in this hospital. How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened?"

I looked at everyone because I wasn't sure what to answer. I just got stabbed and somehow survived. "I...uhm...I'm not sure, it still hurts a bit but I'm feeling better...I guess. I just know that Adrien was attacked with a knife and I somehow ended up between him and the attacker. The knife hit me and everything turned black shortly after."

The doctor continued: "That's a normal reaction. You were hit in your lower abdomen and thankfully you were wearing a pullover and a thick coat. You were extremely lucky. This probably prevented the knife from going in too deep. One centimetre deeper or a few centimetres upwards and something vital would have been hit. You also lost a considerable amout of blood but you got here in time. You turned unconscious because you suffered from acute stress disorder, something people usually confuse with shock. That's not unusual after getting attacked like this. You're out of imminent danger, but we'd like to keep you here for a few more days so we make sure the wound isn't opening again. I think you will make a full recovery."

I was shocked. This could have been the end of my life. I knew being Ladybug was dangerous, but I had superpowers, a magical suit and my yo-yo when I was transformed. A thought hit me as I was thinking about being Ladybug: Where are my earring and where is Tikki? I touched my earlobes to find my miraculous still attached. My purse was hanging on a coat hook, right next to everyone's jackets.

The room was silent. Everyone probably expected me to say something. Everyone was looking worried but relieved at thesame time. Except for Adrien whose eyes were filled with sorrow and guilt. I broke the silence: "I'm glad nothing worse happened. I think I'm fine for now. Can I walk?"

Monsieur Duval gave me a thoughtful look: "Probably yes, I used a few stitches and the bleeding stopped. But I recommend you to move as little as possible during the next days. I ask everyone to leave Miss Dupain-Cheng alone for the night. You can see her again tomorrow, but now she needs her rest and visiting hours were over 2 hours ago. Please call me if you need something."

Everybody said their goodbyes, but I could tell that Adrien was holding back some tears. I had to do something. But not with everyone around. I let them leave and pretended to be tired, so nobody would come to check on me for the next hours.

A few minutes later and Tikki flew out of my purse and gave me a hug. "I'm glad you are still alive. Are you really sure you're okay? What were you even thinking?" Tikki sounded concerned and depressed. She always cared a lot for me.

"I don't know Tikki, I really don't know. I think I just reacted to protect him. Maybe out of instinct, a knife would never be able to penetrate my Ladybug suit." My voice was calm, but I was still fighting the thought that I could be dead right now.

Tikki gave me a little smile. "Cheer up, you are still here. I think you also had another reason to step in. I know you want to see him and there is no chance that I could talk you out of this. Just say the words."

My eyes lit up from her nice and comforting words. "Are you sure? You are the best, but what do we do about my injury?"

"I just know how you roll. Remember how tough you are as Ladybug and how much beating you and Chat Noir can endure without any problem? The powers and the tight-fitting magic suit should prevent the wound from opening again as long as you're not doing crazy stunts. So no fighting! Promise me to get out of trouble, if you are getting detected by the police."

I had to giggle. She was so nice, comforting and supportive. "I promise. Tikki, transform me!"

I jumped out of the window, into the freezing cold night and made my way to the Agreste Mansion. I knocked on one of Adrien's windows. He opened up with surprise in his eyes. The moment was somewhat awkward for both of us. "Hi A-Adrien. I heard what happened to you and I'm sorry. I just came by to tell you it wasn't me."

His emerald eyes were warm and his voice soft as always. "Hey Mi...hello Ladybug. I know. Please come in, it's cold outside. Have a seat." He sat down on his couch.

I joined him. "You know? How? I heard she looked exactly like I do."

Adrien looked at me, having this fire raging in his eyes again. "Her face. She may look an awful lot like you, but her eyes tell a different story. She is a selfish narcissist who thinks she is above everybody else." His voice suddenly calmed down and turned sad. "I see this look every day. I don't know who is under the mask I'm talking to, but I can see you are selfless, caring, loving, respectful and only want the best for everyone."

His words felt so relieving. I expected him to be furious, yet he still knew I wasn't the culprit. I got a step closer to him. "You really have a high opinion of me. I'm sorry that I wasn't there to step in. I should have caught the fake Ladybug on the spot."

A little giggle filled the room, as Adrien cheered up. "I never knew you like puns."

Great, Adrien shares the alley cats annoying fondness for puns. "This pun wasn't intentional! Chat always makes them and he drives me nuts with it. But I have to admit, sometimes they are funny. Anyway, I'm glad you are still alive and just wanted to check on you. I should get going now."

His face turned serious again. "Please wait. I don't know what to do about it, but this fake Ladybug hurt the two people I love the most. You and Marinette."

This one hit me like a bomb. "Wait...what? You love ME?" I understood that he somehow ended up loving Ladybug, but plain old Marinette? I was clumsy, had a reputation for always being late and had problems talking to him until a few weeks ago.

"You're never thinking about yourself, you're always standing up for others and nobody can stop you from doing what's right. You are honest and forgiving..." I stopped listening to him.

Maybe it was wrong to do it, but I came closer to him. After all, he was the love of my life and I stopped caring about the consequences after what happened today. I leaned in and he replied by doing the same as our lips connected. I finally kissed Adrien. It felt so wrong, it felt so right. I was lost in the heat of the moment, as he pulled me towards him so we both were lying on the couch, intertwined in each other's kisses.

I opened my eyes again. We both blushed. How could he ever love Marinette after this? Marinette couldn't keep up with Ladybug and he was not supposed to know my secret identity. My eyes hit his wardrobe as I looked up in shame, away from his face. One door was open and I saw a black coat. There was no doubt, it was the Chat Noir coat I made for my kitty. All details were the same, there was no chance this was a replica. It suddenly hit me. This was why he knew so much about me. The reason why Adrien smelled a bit like camembert just like Chat. This was the reason why he trusted me from the beginning, the reason he cared so much and the reason he loved me. That's why he trusted me and jumped from a skyscraper's rooftop without hesitation as his bodyguard was akumatized into a giant gorilla. Adrien was Chat Noir!

I needed some time to think about this, as more and more pieces of this puzzle started fitting together. I stood up and looked into Adrien's confused face. It seemed like he wasn't sure if all this was a good idea either, probably because he wanted to win my heart as Chat Noir. I could just tell him everything right now, but I wanted to talk to Tikki first. I had to make sure, he loved Marinette as much as Ladybug.

"What's...uhm wrong Ladybug?" Adrien scratched the back of his head, as he wasn't sure what to say or do.

I took a deep breath before I looked into his deep green eyes and replied: "I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have done this. My life is complicated enough right now and I don't want to cause any trouble for you. Also, your father seems to be not that convinced about my innocence."

"Maybe you're right. My father is a bitter man. I don't know why but he wants to become mayor and is acting like a total dick. He knows that I don't agree with him, but he is the only family I have." Adrien sighed: "But I'm glad we kissed. I thought we would never do that. I understand if it's complicated for you."

I was so glad that he understood me. "I have to make up my mind and to take care of some stuff. Please be safe and don't risk anything." We joined into a hug and I left his room through the window I came from. I still didn't fully comprehend what happened. This day was getting weirder and weirder. I should go to sleep and ask Tikki for advice tomorrow.

I went back to my room in the hospital, detransformed and immediately noticed how the pain kicked back in. Tikki was right, the transformation and the pressure that was applied by my suit really helped me. I tried to sleep after this day full of fateful events.


	11. Turning Point

Monday morning, it was my fourth day in hospital, not counting the evening I got here. The last days were pretty boring, because I wasn't allowed to leave my bed for unnecessary stuff. At least my parents and friends came to visit me every day, especially Adrien. He acted like it was his fault that I got hurt, even though it wasn't. He never threatened me and I just jumped between him and the fake Ladybug to take the hit. Actually, I wasn't even thinking about what I've done until the blade pierced my body. It felt like a natural reaction to me. Maybe it was my love for this dreamy guy, who managed to conquer my heart. Maybe that's why Chat was always taking hits for me. Speaking of love, I still got the problem of kissing Adrien as my superhero persona. I knew Adrien loved Ladybug but she was just the person behind the mask. How do I get him to like me? Ladybug kissing him wasn't going to help me. Of course, I could just reveal myself to him and hope for the best. But I wanted him to fall in love with the real me, not the mask.

Madame Avelia - one of the nurses - woke me up, as she was bringing me breakfast. "Good Morning Madame Dupain-Cheng. I hope you were sleeping well. Here's your breakfast. Two croissants, ham, cheese and extra strawberry jam. I know you like it, so I gave you the double amount of jam."

She was a really nice person who did her job with passion, always making sure I got everything that I needed. I opened my eyes to see her gentle smile. "Good Morning Madame Avelia. Thanks, that's so awesome of you. You're a big help to me."

Her smile brightened as she listened to my words: "That's a nice thing to hear. The doctor wants to see you after breakfast, I'm going to tell him you're awake now." She left the room, so I started my morning ritual of watching TV while I was having breakfast.

Tikki came out of her hiding spot, as I shared a strawberry jam croissant with her. Of course, Nadja was on TV again. I really liked her as a person, but she was telling bad news every time I saw her on TV.

"Good Morning Paris, this is Nadja Chamack with the 9 A.M. news. Yesterday the citizens of Paris were called to elect a new mayor to replace the deceased André Bourgeois, who is said to be killed by Paris' once beloved superheroine Ladybug. A court still has to convict her, but the evidence seems not to be in Ladybugs favour, as she still is on the run. This was the dominating topic of the election. Last week's polls predicted a close call, but Ladybug was striking again three days prior to the election as she attacked Adrien Agreste, the son of top candidate Gabriel Agreste and seriously injured Adrien's girlfriend. This made a lot of Parisian citizens change their minds. The last votes were counted in the early hours of this morning. Gabriel Agreste got elected with a majority of 64.1% and started his work as the new mayor at 8 o'clock this morning. He already announced to put everything he got into capturing Ladybug and Chat Noir, as he called in federal police reserves and heavily armed anti-terrorist squads."

"God damn it, give me a break!" I shut off the TV. Of course, things were getting more difficult every day. Hawk Moth, some assassin killing Chloé's father and trying to kill Adrien, me nearly getting arrested or killed multiple times, Chat and me being the most wanted criminals in Paris and now the father of the guy I loved was trying to arrest me and his own son.

I finished my breakfast and Dr. Duval came into my room: "Good morning Madame Dupain-Cheng. You look like you're having a bad mood. Let me help you out a little. I need to take a final look at your wound, so please pull your shirt up a little bit."

I did what I was told to and the doctor examined the spot I got stabbed in. "Okay, this looks as good as I expected. You can leave the hospital today, the paperwork will be ready after lunch. Please just don't do any kinds of sports or hard work for the next week and everything will be fine. You really were lucky with this one."

I started to smile again, at least I got some good news. This was the moment I decided to start taking my life back. I pulled out my phone and called Alya. "Hey girl. Great news, the doctor told me I will get out today."

Alya sounded extremely excited. "That's awesome. Here are even more good news: I managed to find some stuff, you know what I mean. I really need to show it to you."

"That's awesome. Then come to visit me at home this afternoon."

I heard a loud voice in the background. "Alya Césaire do I need to remind you that you are still in school? I know you are good friends with Marinette and we all are glad that she is being fine, but this is no reason to interrupt my class!"

"Sorry Mari, I need to quit. See ya later." Alya ended the call and I started laughing out loud. Poor Alya was in class and I just called her. I totally forgot it was Monday.

I had to kill some time so I watched TV and did some stuff on my phone. Social media was buzzing again. Some people still sided with Ladybug, but most were supporting Gabriel and his decision to do anything to catch me and Chat. It was somehow ironic how Gabriel wanted to put his own son behind bars. I tried to raise my mood, so I checked out Adrien's official profile. Fans were rambling about the rumours of him having a girlfriend. My eyes widened as I felt the shock. I remembered the news as they were talking about Adrien's girlfriend being attacked by Ladybug....which was me. I was pretty sure this just slipped in, but this was still bothering me. People could ask questions and with some bad luck, paparazzi would siege my place which would make it impossible for me to turn into Ladybug and get out of my room unnoticed. I thought I had to talk to Adrien about this after school.

Time passed by and it became noon. I had already packed my stuff and got ready to leave. My parents picked me up and I got home. I never thought of it as something really special as it was just the place where I lived, but the last days got me thinking. I was glad to be back in my own room which had a warm and friendly atmosphere, unlike the cold and sterile room in the hospital. Actually, this changed a lot for me. I got framed, people blamed me for murder, my partner and I became wanted criminals, my identity nearly got exposed, I almost got thrown into prison and cheated death twice. Yet I was still standing. My life changed, but so did I. The last days proved that hiding wasn't an option, so I had to get back into the fight.

Tikki flew out of my purse. I barely had time to talk to her the last days, since we couldn't be sure that nobody would hear us talking as the hospital's walls were really thin. I wanted to talk to her since we got back from Adrien. "Hey Tikki, what do you think about Adrien being Chat Noir?"

Tikki gave me a confused look. "What do you mean? I guess he is a nice guy and you love him. I think you should be glad it's him because you already know him."

"Yeah, but I want him to love me, not just Ladybug. And since we kissed he will probably see me as a normal friend." I looked at the ground as my voice dropped into a sad tone.

Tikki was shaking her head. She took a deep breath, as she started to give me a speech. "Adrien admitted that Marinette and Ladybug are the two people he loves the most. He wanted Marinette to be his partner for the photo shoot and not anyone else. Look how close you and Chat Noir became when he visited you. I think it's time to tell him. If you don't tell him now, you probably never will. It will only get harder and harder when time moves on, especially if you have to tell him you knew it all the way."

She was undeniably right. I would probably never reveal myself if I waited any longer. I somehow was still feeling uncomfortable with the thought of telling him that his beloved and awesome Ladybug is the clumsy baker's daughter, but it was now or never. "You're right Tikki, I think this could be the right time. But I'm still afraid about it. He asked me so many times and I always refused. Something about this does not feel right."

Tikki hugged my cheek and continued: "You told me your heart wanted to reveal yourself to him right after you two fought Lady Wifi. I have to admit, his Kwami Plagg and I knew who you are the whole time. I didn't say anything because we aren't supposed to tell anyone, so I assume his Kwami kept his mouth shut too. I also thought you two weren't ready, but I think you are now. Both of you grew so much in character and took so many responsibilities. Also, there is no point in keeping a secret if you already know."

She really knew how to make a solid point. "I made up my mind. I will confess everything to him, but I want to talk to him as Marinette first, so we both are on the same page about our relationship." Tikki accepted and time flew by as Alya already knocked on my hatch to come up. This girl has some serious timing. "Come up Alya."

My BFF came in and nearly crushed me with a hug. "I'm so glad you're back. You have no idea how boring school is without you."

"Thanks, Alya, but please let me breathe again." I muffled a bit as she finally realized what I meant and let me escape. Poor Nino was probably having a near death experience every time these two met. "Okay, you talked about some stuff you wanted to show me this morning. I guess it's about the video footage, right?"

Alya suddenly had a big grin all over her face. I knew this look so I assumed she had found something big. "Okay, there are several things I noticed in favour of Ladybug that nobody else pointed out on the internet. This will take a moment, so sit down and listen.

Number one: The video can be broken down into two parts. Before the blackout and afterwards. One window in the mayor's room was open before the lights turned off, but closed after they have turned on again. How did it close? Maybe it was the wind, but it could have been something else. I checked the weather data again. We had strong winds during the day, but it wasn't that breezy at night.

Number two: A closets door is closed before, but open after the blackout. Those were just a few seconds and Ladybug didn't even move near it. So why was it open? Maybe just some strange coincidence?

Number three: Ladybug was trying to not look into the camera before the lights went out like she didn't want her face to be seen. The Ladybug after the blackout didn't do that and actually never acted like she was on camera at all. Another coincidence? I don't think so.

Number four: A comparison of different pictures shows very minor differences in the visible part of the face of Ladybug before and after the blackout. That's odd, isn't it?

Number five: A frame by frame comparison of different angles shows, that Ladybug is slightly taller before the blackout, compared to afterwards. I just assume that Ladybug wasn't shrinking in these few seconds. It's hard to see and easy to miss since the difference is probably less than a centimetre, but it's becoming visible by direct comparison.

Number six: Ladybug had harsh and quick movement with a tensioned body language before the blackout, but the Ladybug after the blackout had a more fluid and swift movement until she saw the dead mayor. A comparison to other videos form the Ladyblog proves, that Ladybug's movement usually is fluent, swift and light.

Number seven: Ladybug after the blackout had a really shocked and surprised expression on her face the second she saw the mayor's body. Why would she be shocked and surprised, if she just killed him?"

I was baffled by the amount of work and her eye for details. I actually knew it, but now we had proof. "So this means there is someone who disguised herself as Ladybug, killed the mayor, escaped the scene and took preparations to frame the real Ladybug. But why would someone do that?"

Alya sighed. "You're right. the hints are strong enough to support this claim. Nobody who isn't out of their mind will believe in so many coincidences, but we are still lacking a motive. The reason could be that someone wanted to become mayor for some reason, but we have no proof for that and also framing Ladybug must have been a serious piece of work. So I guess this isn't a viable theory."

I was looking out of my window, as I thought about Gabriel being the new mayor. Something felt off. "Thank you, Alya. You're really the best, but please be careful. This isn't just playing around, someone is dead serious about this. I had to learn it the hard way." I pulled up my shirt to show her my scar I got from the knife.

Alya gasped as she looked at me, a fire burning in her eyes. "I will put this together in a video, upload it on the Ladyblog. There is no chance Ladybug is going to take the blame any longer. Whoever did this, she is totally not getting away with this."

She was full of resolve, but I was still worried as I just survived by pure luck and didn't want her to be the next victim, so I tried to protest. "If someone is willing to kill people and frame Ladybug, she probably won't be happy to see evidence against her on the Ladyblog. I think you should just hand this over to the police. I don't want anything to happen to you. Not because of m...this all."

"Okay, I will hand everything to the police, but I will upload this video if they do not. The people of Paris need to see this."

My BFF had this look in her eyes I knew way too well and I didn't like it. "But what if anything happens to you? I don't want you to..."

Alya interrupted me. "Hey, I won't sit here and do nothing. Whoever is behind all this murdered Chloé's father, framed Ladybug, you know the superheroine who risks her life to protect us all, and even worse, nearly killed you. I can't just sit here and do nothing. And if push comes to shove, Ladybug will be there for me."

I looked at this stubborn girl who acted something between brave and suicidal. "How can you be so sure? How can you trust her with your life? She failed Chloé's father, why do you think she won't fail you?"

Alya's eyes were burning with the fire of determination and no force in this world would ever be able to stop her, so I just gave in and hoped for the best. "I don't know, but she never let me down. I was akumatized, I nearly got sacrificed by some weird Egyptian dude, I got turned into a kissing zombie and I don't know what. I know she trusts me because she gave me..."

Now I got curious. I hoped she wasn't going to tell me the Rena Rouge thing. I would get seriously upset if she does. I told her that it had to stay a secret when I gave her the fox miraculous. "She gave you what?" My voice went sharp.

Alya looked shocked as I asked her. She looked away and started stuttering, sure signs that she just made something up. "A...a...an exclusive interview. Yeah..that's right, remember? I think she wouldn't do this if she wouldn't trust me...right? So I need to do everything in my power to help her and not disappoint her trust."

Alya gave me some trouble, but deep down I knew she was right and 100% aware of the risk she was taking. I was glad that she was my friend. We took the rest of the evening to play video games, watch some shows and just hang around. I missed this so much.


	12. Back In The Saddle

Alya and I really had a lot of fun. We played Ultimate Mecha Strike 3, listened to Clara Nightingale's latest album, talked about girl stuff and watched TV. This awesome evening made me feel like a normal girl with a normal life for a few hours and I badly needed this. It was 9 P.M. as Alya's parents picked her up, because we had school the next day.

I still thought about how I should approach Adrien. I couldn't just walk up to him and say: "Hi, I'm Ladybug and I know you are Chat Noir. Also, I'm madly in love with you." There was no chance this was going to work. I needed something to open the conversation and this shouldn't be about me. Chloé always did that and even I noticed how much this annoyed Adrien. I was so out of my mind that I failed to come up with something, so I asked Tikki for advice: "Do you know something I could talk about with Adrien? I need something to start a conversation."

Tikki sighed, as she probably saw this coming. "You're not the first Ladybug to ask me about this Marinette. It's all about common ground, you find one thing you both like or hate. So what do you have in common?"

Tikki was such a wise problem solver. "Yeah, I could talk to him about fashion, or Ladybug, or video games! Wait, no! Everybody talks about Ladybug or his modeling and his father's fashion! He will think I'm a superficial freak, hate me and we will never have 3 kids and a hamster!"

At this very moment, Tikki facepalmed so loud, that probably all of Paris heard it. "Marinette, just calm down. Ask him about his opinion on Chat Noir. Most people don't talk about Chat Noir without bringing Ladybug into the conversation. You have a nice opportunity to start talking to him, know your facts and both of you can talk about him, without Adrien being suspicious. You really need to learn how this works."

I knew Tikki was wise and had some experience in life, but this suggestion was extremely smart. I also noticed the smug expression on her face, which nearly mocked me. I decided to give her some cookies and go to bed.

I wanted to talk to Adrien before school, but I was late as always. The thoughts of talking to him and having to confess that I was Ladybug kept me awake at night. Class had already started several minutes ago, as I walked in. Madame Bustier found some suitable words. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng! You literally live across the street, so what's keeping you from being on time for class? Anyway, it's nice to have you back at school. Please sit down. We all missed you." Her Voice went from strict to nice in a matter of seconds. No one could deny it, she tried her best to be a great teacher. She was strict to maintain order, but also was understanding, caring and nice. Every one of us really meant something to her.

The whole class started laughing as I pulled off my signature move of being late. Even Chloé laughed a little...and looked like she wasn't even thinking about saying something mean. What happened during my absence?

The bell rang and class was interrupted for a recess. I got to my locker and wanted to speak to Adrien afterwards as somebody talked to me from behind. "Hey...uhm...Marinette. I know we aren't friends and you dislike me, but I need to ask you about something."

I knew this voice but I doubted my ears, so I turned around. This couldn't be, she would never speak to me alone while not making threats or insults, but there she was. Chloé Bourgeois was standing right next to me, without anyone else being in the room. "Marinette...are you okay? I can send you a photo of me if you want to keep staring."

I gasped for air as I wasn't expecting this to happen. "What's the catch? Since when do you want to talk to me? It's my first day being back at school, so I'm not interested in any of your schemes." Okay, let's be honest, this was mean.

"I totally understand that you hate me and I won't tell you that everything between us is fine. But the recent events got me thinking and maybe you could understand me. I know you liked Ladybug. I mean come on, your best friend is hosting a blog about her and you always try to act heroic and do the right thing, just like her."

I still tried to figure out if there was a catch or were any strings attached to this, so I looked around the room. Still, Chloé's words caught my attention. "Yeah, I really DO like her. I'm sorry about your father. But what do you want?"

Chloé looked on the ground, as she brought her point across with a sad and somehow insecure face, not giving the bratty expression she usually made. "You probably know I was one of her greatest fans, until she killed my father. At least that's what the police says and Alya's video proves. But I could never believe that she would do something like this. She saved us multiple times, so why would she do this? I thought I was convinced until you and Adrikins got attacked. Oh and I'm sorry. Adrien told me that this could have been lethal and I...guess...I am glad that you're still here. I just wanted to thank you for saving Adrikins. He told everyone that you just jumped in. I couldn't bear the thought of losing him too."

I saw tears building up in her eyes. She sounded completely honest and it somehow made sense that she was telling me this with no one else being around. It's hard to show your vulnerable side. "Thank you. It's nice to see your good side. I only did what I felt was right. Actually, I jumped before I even thought about what I was doing."

Chloé grabbed my left arm and looked straight into my eyes, tears streaming down her face. "Do you think the real Ladybug attacked you? I need to know. She was my hero after all."

Chloé's legs gave in, so I caught her into something that turned out to be a hug. Me hugging Chloé...who thought this would ever happen? I tried to comfort her: "Hey, it's okay. I don't think she killed your father and I'm 100% sure she didn't attack me. This was someone else and I'm sure there is a way to prove this." I always enjoyed helping other people, but this was just weird. I knew she was going through a rough time and coping with grief was very hard, but I tried to get her up on her own two feet. "Now come on, those tears are ruining your make-up."

"Marinette, are you still..." I suddenly heard something being dropped and looked towards the door. Alya stood there, her bag's contents being spread all over the floor, her mouth popped open. She couldn't believe her eyes, as Sabrina rushed in from behind her and helped me to get Chloé back up.

It was needless to say, that Alya asked me what all this was about during the next class. I tried to explain this, but I somehow was confused myself. I waited for the next break, so I could finally talk to Adrien.

I just took a short detour through the girls' bathrooms, as the next class ended and then looked for Adrien. He was talking to Alya and Nino, so I joined them.

Alya looked at me and said: "Hey sorry, but Nino and I need to do something for a project. I think you two can handle yourselves."

Nino - oblivious as always - gave her a confused look. "Al, which project? What are you OUCH!" Alya hit Nino's head. "That project where I kick your balls if you don't come with me now." She dragged him away.

Adrien took the initiative. "Hey Mari, it's very nice to have you at school again. Alya told me what happened between you and Chloé. I'm still a little confused by what she told me, but I think it's great of you to comfort her and help her be a better person. Thank you. You are really awesome. Anyway, Alya just made a fuzz about getting us to be alone. So you wanna have lunch with me?"

I blushed but was amazed that he didn't bother that just Alya set this up. I gladly joined him. We went to the bakery and grabbed some bacon-cheese croissants and I also took one filled with camembert. We sat down on a bench at the nearby park. "I've got you a croissant with camembert. I just thought you might like it."

Adrien's face twitched a little. "Uhm thanks. I usually don't eat camembert, but I guess it's going to be good since it's from your bakery."

This made me suspicious. "But you always have this camembert scent with you, so I thought you eat this cheese every day. Don't you like it?" This question hit Adrien, I could tell he was trying to hide that he wasn't a fan of stinky cheese. That was strange. I decided to change the topic. "This question might come out of nowhere, but what do you think about Chat Noir?"

Adrien looked at me, not expecting this question. "I think he's cool. He always helps Ladybug and stuff. But he's not as cool as Ladybug. She's the best and always saves the day. Why do you ask?"

I didn't expect him to ask this, but I became really good at making excuses by now. "Alya and I had a little discussion about who is cooler. She said it's Ladybug, but I'm totally a Chat Noir fan."

Adrien put on a smug grin. "And why is that?"

I knew why he did this, but why shouldn't I pet his ego a little bit? "He always helps Ladybug and isn't afraid of taking hits for her. He always protects her, not caring about what will happen to him. I really admire him for that. People always act like he is just a sidekick, but he is the best partner Ladybug could wish for."

Adrien looked deep into my eyes. I wasn't sure what was coming next. "It seems like you and Chat Noir are sharing these traits. You saved my life by taking a hit for me, I can't thank you enough for that." The sound of silence filled the air, as no one of us could find something adequate to say. The seconds felt like minutes as Adrien finally tried to loosen up the tension. "Mari, please tell me. Are you Chat Noir? You sure act like him."

We both burst into laughter. He knew he was Chat Noir, I knew he was Chat Noir and he didn't know that I knew he was Chat Noir. This made it even more fun for me. It was time to head back to school. I couldn't bring myself to reveal me or ask him about his feelings for me. I thought this was enough for one day. "Hey Adrien, do you want to eat lunch together tomorrow? This was really fun and I guess Nino will most likely be occupied by Alya again."

He smiled at me. "Sure. Why not? I really like hanging around with you. But I want some macarons tomorrow."

School continued. It was boring but I somehow missed it. It was way better than being in a hospital. I went home after class ended and helped my parents in the bakery. This also gave me the opportunity to make Adrien's macarons. He really seemed to like them.

It was a little after 8 P.M. as Alya called me. "Hey Mari, you won't believe it. the police turned me down. They said the evidence I present in my video couldn't be verified right now and I need a lawyer to make an appointment at the court so a judge can decide about it."

Great, I somehow expected this. Fucking bureaucrats. No wonder everybody hated them. "Okay, so what are you going to do? Upload the video to the Ladyblog?"

"I already did an hour ago. It's time for some public pressure. I just got into an argument with my parents because I can't pay the fee for a lawyer myself, so I will take donations for this on my blog. My parents think it's not a good idea, but I still did it anyway."

"I expected nothing less from you. Always the same hothead. Hey, maybe you can..." I suddenly heard glass breaking in Alya's background.

"WHAAAH! Ladybug? What are you doing here...HELP!!!!" Alya screamed and the connection died. "We've got to do something! Tikki, transform me!" I swung by to Alya's house as fast as I could. I landed on a nearby rooftop and saw that my best friends room was empty while one window was completely shattered. I won't make the same mistake twice to come to a crime scene, especially since the police should be on their way, as Alya's parents were standing outside like they were waiting.

I used the telephone function of my yo-yo to call Chat, but he didn't answer. I guessed he wasn't transformed right now. That's why I went to the Agreste Mansion as fast as I could. The lights in Adrien's room were turned on, so I knocked on the window. He opened it to let me in.

"Good evening Ladybug, what brings you here?" Adrien had a charming voice and his inner Chat was showing.

"We don't have any time. Alya just got kidnapped by the fake Ladybug. We need to act! NOW!" I nearly yelled at him. I felt sorry for bossing him around, but the situation was serious. This bitch could do who knows what to Alya. She better didn't hurt her, or I would snap.

The confused model looked at me. "Uhm...what? Then why are you here? I'm sure Chat Noir will be out there and meet you any minute."

Of course, he would use that excuse. But I had enough, no more schemes! I walked up to his wardrobe and pulled out the coat. "I know you're Chat Noir. You still got the coat I made you."

Adrien's eyes widened. "Wait! I don't understand. My Lady, are you saying..."

I nodded. "Tikki spots off."


	13. My Heart Skips A Beat

My transformation dropped and so did Adrien's jaw. He definitely didn't expect this to happen and I actually just did this because it made everything short and quick. It was now or never.

"Mari...Marinette! You are my lady? How did I never notice? Wait...I thought I kept the wardrobe closed." Adrien's jaw was still dropped, as a little black cat Kwami flew out of his hiding spot and closed Adrien's mouth. "You guys are so blind. You see each other every day and still don't get it. That's why I opened the closet as you dropped in last week."

"YOU DID WHAAAAT?!" Adrien, Tikki and I yelled in unison. I couldn't believe this little furry ball of a Kwami just set us up. Tikki rushed over to him to give him the talk of his life. "You know we aren't allowed to tell anything! What were you thinking?"

Plagg sighed. "Do you know what it's like to live with an oblivious kid who talks about his lady all day and fails to recognize her while sitting right in front of her in school? This is so annoying! I swear this kid is a hopelessly lost cause! And with everything that happened I decided to speed things up." He gasped for air as he forgot to breathe in his rambling.

Tikki took a deep breath so I prepared for the worst. "Do you think Marinette is any better? There were pictures of Adrien all over her room, under her bed, on her phone, on her computer and I've seen this stupid perfume ad at least a hundred times! I had to listen to her talks about how much she loves Adrien and how she will never be able to tell him. This girl is quite a handful too and I still didn't tell her!"

Adrien and I were looking at each other in embarrassment as our Kwamis got in an argument with each other. He blushed and it felt like my head was turning red like a tomato. The whole situation was strange, but at the same time, I felt relieved that it was pretty much the same on his side. "Adrien, are you disappointed it's me? I can understand as I'm not really much like Ladybug without the mask." I looked back at our Kwamis who were basically flying around the room as Tikki tried to catch Plagg. This sure was a big deal for her.

Adrien broke the awkward silence between us by pulling me into a tight hug. "I never thought that you could be Ladybug, but I can't tell you how glad I am that you are. I couldn't wish for anyone better." He kissed me on my cheek and my face probably just turned even redder.

My head got suddenly hit by Tikki. "Hey! Stop this you lovebirds! We have to find Alya!" Her words hit me like a baseball bat. I broke out of the hug and told Adrien about Alya's evidence video, so both of us concluded that her being kidnapped had to with the new video. Adrien turned on his computer and we watched both videos Alya made on this case. The one she filmed at the press conference and her edit of the footage Chat got from the police station.

Something suddenly reeked of camembert. I turned around as Adrien said: "May I introduce you to my personal camembert monster? This is Plagg, he is the reason why I'm always smelling like this, he is obsessed with his stinky cheese and becomes really whiny about it if I don't feed him every hour or so."

Plagg pouted, as Adrien said this. "I think he is cute." Plagg sat down on my left hand as I was petting him with my right one. "You see, that's how a miraculous holder should treat his Kwami", Plagg stated. I could see how the jealousy built up in Adrien.

He noticed something as we watched the videos the second time. "Hey, stop right there. I know these eyes. I've seen it somewhere. But where?" He was thinking about something, but I couldn't follow his thoughts right now. "I got it! I met a worker inside the hotel as I tried to get this camera footage. She caught me strolling around, that evening and told me that she works in the maintenance crew. I asked her about the incident and she claimed that a fuse box had a malfunction, but it's such an obvious lie right now."

I was a little confused, so I demanded an explanation. "Why do you think that? Why is it obvious now? I also don't get the connection between her and Alya."

Adrien put a hand on his chin as he clearly tried to remember something. "Let's assume something would happen to the fuse box, don't you think the whole floor would have been affected by the blackout? So why were the cameras still running? She could have manipulated something, as she was working on the night shift as this mess started. And now comes the kicker: She almost looks like you! You are Ladybug, so someone who looks like your sibling could wear a very believable Ladybug disguise. I also heard her talking to someone on the phone about something that will happen three days before the election. This can't be a coincidence!"

A lookalike who could impersonate Ladybug and worked in the hotel during this special night. Everything made sense now, like pieces of a puzzle that were put together to make the bigger picture visible. "Do you remember her name? We need to get a hint on where she could be right now!"

Adrien thought for a moment. "Something like Brigitte, Birgit...something like that. Sorry, I really tried to not look suspicious and I'm not good at remembering names."

Plagg burped as he was busy eating a piece of stinky camembert bigger than himself. "You are hopeless. Her name is Bridgette Bélanger. She told you loud and clear." Plagg commented with a cocky voice and a sassy expression on his face.

"Since when do you give useful information? I never knew this side of you." Adrien was clearly pissed.

"Hey, don't act like this just because your girlfriend is here." "I'M WHAT? YOU ARE ACTING WEIRD!" Great, two hotheads getting into a fight. I had to stop it before they start killing each other over me. "Hey, you lovely two. Why don't we just go to the hotel and see if she is there? Or maybe we can find out her address."

I put on a fake smile and looked at both of them. The seemed to think about if they should stop fighting or not. I was so done right now. My smile quickly faded away to be replaced by a dead-serious expression. "That wasn't a question! Move it!!!"

Everyone looked at me in shock. Actually, I didn't know this side of me either. "Okay M'Lady, calm down. Plagg, transform me!" Finally, things got moving. "Tikki, transform me!" We went off into the night through the window and carefully jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Gabriel wasn't lying as he told the public about bringing in more police forces. There were helicopters hovering in the sky, and lot's of police cars patrolling the streets, so we needed to hide on a regular basis. We jumped down into a dead-end alley near the hotel and started to walk towards it.

Adrien took initiative and put his right arm around my shoulders. I wasn't sure what to think, as we weren't even formerly dating and he knew about my secret identity for like 10 minutes by now. "I never thought you are such a flirt, but your Chat shows right now."

Adrien put on Chat's flirty and smug signature smile as he winked at me. "What are you going to do about it, M'Lady? Agreste me?"

I facepalmed. "Tell me again how I could fall so madly in love with you."

"Maybe because of my stunning looks and great sense of humour, my pawsome puns or just my well-defined abs."

Help, I never imagined Adrien being that annoying when he was not transformed into Chat Noir. "I have my doubts about the puns and haven't seen any abs yet."

Adrien came with a dry and quick reply. "Do you want to?" I blushed again as my heart skipped a beat. What should I say about this? I couldn't deny that I really *would* like to see this or that I never thought about it.

I decided to ignore what he said, as this was probably just his annoying-flirty Chat side. He was probably just messing with me, but I wasn't sure in what kind of relationship we were right now. Partners? Was I just a friend? Did he love my Marinette side?. "Adrien...please listen. What are we? What's the relationship between us?"

He put on a little confused but serious face. "I'm not sure. You always said you don't love me because you loved somebody else. I don't know about you, but Ladybug conquered my heart the first time we met. I still really liked you but treated you just as a friend. A very good and close friend, at least that's what I thought...or wanted to think because liking someone else would feel like betraying Ladybug. But I love both sides of you. You're always helping others before thinking about yourself, cute, selfless, incredibly smart, cheerful, witty and strong in different ways. Both with and without the mask." His seriousness changed into a happy smile.

"I really never thought about Chat Noir in that way either. I've got to admit he is clever, hot, a really good fighter and always protected me even if it meant taking a hit for me. I think I might have fallen for Chat Noir if you wouldn't have shown up. But Ladybug isn't the real me. Can you love the girl under the mask?"

"I think you're way too self-critical. You're more Ladybug as you might think, even without the mask. I love you Marinette. Can you love the guy under the mask? That's the real me. I don't have to act like the model or perfect son my father wants me to be when I'm transformed. I love to get flirty with M'Lady, making puns and silly jokes. Marinette, will you be my girlfriend?"

My heart skipped another beat, I stood there rigid from shock for what felt like forever. "Mari, are you alright? Hello?" Adrien stood right before me. I pulled myself together, it took all my boldness as I put my hands on his face and engaged in a deep kiss. Adrien replied, our kiss lasted for an eternity but at the same time it was over way too quick. "Yes, I will! Je t'aime!"

I wished this moment could last forever. Just Adrien and me, both of us confessing our love for each other and sharing our biggest secret. He was my partner form the start, both of us knew what the other one was up to, like when we were fighting Frightingale while being tied to each other with synchronized movement. This was what I have been dreaming of since Adrien gave me his umbrella, even though I literally lived on the other side of the street just school. Both of us almost forgot about everything else in the beauty of this moment.

That was until both of us got pinched by our Kwamis. Tikki flew out of my purse and wasn't amused. "Move it you two! You can still date and admire each other AFTER we saved Alya!"

Plagg joined her with an annoyed look on his face. "Fucking teenagers. I've seen other Ladybugs and Chat Noirs falling in love with each other, but you two are literally the worst! I demand extra cheese when we get home! Now get moving!

Our Kwamis were right, we nearly forgot about everything. I hoped Alya was alright. I pulled out my phone and looked at the time. It was 8:31 P.M. Alya was kidnapped half an hour ago. The last minutes felt like an eternity, but luckily we weren't wasting much time and therefore still had a chance to find my best friend.

The hotel was in reach and we would get there any minute. "Adrien, do you have a plan? Alya is counting on us."

I saw how worried Adrien was. "I wouldn't call it a plan and this whole thing is more like a gamble, but we don't have any other option right now. Let's just say I've got an idea. Trust me, M'Lady."

I felt the warmth of his words. After what has happened and everything he has done for me, I would trust him with everything.


	14. Investigation

We entered the Hotel and Adrien went straight for the reception desk to talk to an employee. The tall but slender man with grey hair formally addressed Adrien. "Good evening Sir, what may I do for you? Oh, monsieur Agreste, it's you. Le Hotel Grand Paris is honoured to have you as a guest."

I noticed how nice people were if you're a celebrity. I'm glad Adrien still behaved like a normal and decent person. I was standing next to him as he cleared his throat. "Sir, I'm looking for Madame Bélanger. Is she here? I know it's nothing I would usually ask from you, but I need to talk to her."

The receptionist frowned, as he wasn't expecting this question. "Sir, I don't know why you are asking this, but she isn't here right now."

I expected Madame Bélanger to not be here if she really kidnapped Alya. Adrien asked for further information. "Can you please tell me where she lives? It's urgent and she isn't answering her phone."

The old man tried to be professional about this, but everyone could clearly see a little astonishment in his face. "I'm sure you have good reasons for asking me, but I'm not allowed to answer this question. Why do you want to know this anyway?"

Adrien gave me a look that said "trust me", I nodded as he replied to the receptionists' question. "This is my friend Marinette but she is a little shy. Bridge....I mean Madame Bélanger is her cousin and recently moved back to Paris. You see, her family is a little clumsy, so they lost her address. They had invited her for dinner but she didn't come and isn't answering her phone, so we are a little worried about her and wanted to check if everything is okay."

Wow, Adrien was lying without stammering, looking away from the guy or any other sign of not telling the truth. I was a little scared, but I guessed that's what you learn from being a model and having a cold and professional businessman as a father. The receptionist gave us a thoughtful look. I was sure he believed Adrien's little lie. "I understand your reasoning, but the law prohibits me from handing out personal data about any of our employees. I'm deeply sorry. I would really like to help you, but I can't."

Damn it! I believed him, but we couldn't just tell him that we are Ladybug and Chat Noir and trying to rescue our friend. My palms turned sweaty as I was getting nervous, but Adrien kept his cool. How was he doing that? The blonde boy pulled out his phone and opened Chloé's contact, his posture turning from neutral and open to aggressive and his face from his friendly smile to mad and dead-serious. "Sir, maybe you don't know, but my father is the mayor of Paris and I'm best friends with Chloé Bourgeois. I can completely understand if you don't want to give me the information I asked for, but then I would have to call her and explain who wasn't helping me." He looked at the receptionists' name tag. "So why don't you just tell me what I want to know, Monsieur Larue. I promise I won't tell anyone. Like I said, Madame Bélanger expects us to know her address anyway."

I never knew Adrien could be such a bad boy. Sure, he was a little more flirty and confronting as Chat Noir, but nothing I knew about him came close to this. I was shocked but couldn't deny I liked this side of him. The man behind the reception desk gulped and finally gave in to the pressure. "Okay Sir, I'm telling you but please don't tell anyone that I did, or I will probably lose my job. Her address is 22 Rue de Vanoya. It's an apartment as far as I know."

Adrien put his phone away and turned into his friendly self again. "Thank you very much Sir. I won't tell anybody, I promise. Have a nice evening." We left the building. I kissed this blonde cinnamon roll. "I never knew you were such a good liar." He blushed. "That what you get from always pretending to be the happy model. Also, Alya's life is on the line and we have a chance of catching the real killer and end this. I will do whatever it takes."

He was such a sweetheart. Our conversation got interrupted by multiple heavy armoured police trucks driving through the streets. I've only seen these trucks before in movies. We were standing on the sidewalk as they just passed by. Adrien looked at me. "I guess my father isn't going to play around. These guys mean trouble."

"Yeah, but we will pull this off anyway. But I guess it would be smarter to walk to Bridgette's address. It's not far from here anyway."

We walked for a few minutes until we arrived at an apartment building - just like the old receptionist told us - and found her name on a mailbox. We ringed the bell, but we had no response. "Nobody is answering M'Lady." At least Adrien was as flirty as his alter ego. "Of course she wouldn't respond if she is keeping Alya. Actually, I always had low hopes for her to be stupid enough to take Alya to her own home. Maybe we should get in there somehow." I ringed another bell, the door opened and we went upstairs. An older lady was standing in her doorway.

"Who are you? I expected a parcel delivery."

Adrien took the initiative. "We are sorry for interrupting, we are friends with Madame Bélanger and thought she may be asleep or not hearing the bell."

The old lady gave us a grumpy look. "She isn't here often. Nobody sees her entering or leaving the building on a regular basis. It's like she isn't even living here. And when someone sees her, then she is just coming in and leaving shortly after. Anyway, tell your friend to not forget cleaning duty. I won't clean the staircase for her again." She closed her door.

Things are getting stranger and stranger, so maybe we are right. Everything fit together. We just needed to find a hint on Bridgette's current location. I tried to open her door, but of course, it was closed and locked. Tikki flew out of my purse, phased through the door and opened it a minute later. "There is nobody at home, you can search this place. It looks interesting."

We walked in and closed the door behind us. "Hey Adrien, this is my first time breaking into someone's home. Any advice from the cat burglar?"

"Haha, very funny. Maybe we shouldn't touch anything so we don't leave fingerprints. But there doesn't seem much to be touched anyway."

The apartment was half empty. We managed to find a desk, I put a piece of cloth over my hand and searched it. "Mari, do you think we have a clue. I mean this Bridgette woman was the only clue we had and her not being at work and not being here for long or even living here can be a good sign that we are right. But What if we missed something, or this turns into a dead end?" He was right, but I hoped for Alya that we could still find her. I looked at my phone, it said 9:06 P.M. Alya was missing for more than a complete hour. It took me a few minutes to search through everything, but I finally managed to find something that could be valuable. It was a single key.

"Great, we are looking for hints and all I find is this stupid key." Adrien opened his hand, suggesting to hand him said key. He took a closer look and investigated it. "This isn't any key. This is a high-quality security key from service de clés royale. These cost a lot of money. I know, because we purchased our alarm-, security- and locking system from the same company. They are the best, but nobody who isn't filthy rich would even think about buying from them. Look at this little mark, it states the month and year this key was made. This one is from June 2011."

I was surprised Adrien knew this, but how was this going to help us? "That's amazing Sherlock, but I don't see any use in this information."

"Mari, I'm sure you never learned this, because you never had any trouble with sneaking out and ditching your bodyguard. I've lost a key once. Nathalie found out and wasn't pleased, but she called the company and reported the key as missing. Luckily someone found the key, so they send a courier to retrieve it and bring it back to us. It's part of their service."

I was connecting the dots. "So you wanna tell me that we only have to call the company, report the key as missing, and then call them again to tell them we found the key? I that way they would lead us to Bridgette's real house. Wow, you're so smart."

"Just don't forget to suppress your phone number so they can't trace who called." Adrien blushed but had a proud look in his eyes. He really did well. We left the apartment, making sure to not leave any fingerprints. I pulled out my phone, searched for the company's customer hotline on the internet and called them.

A friendly sounding woman answered shortly after I dialed the number. "Good evening, service de clés royale. My name is Dominique Bernot, what can I do for you?"

I tried to sound as inconspicuous and casual as possible. "Hello, my name is Bridgette Bélanger and I lost one of my keys. Can I give you the serial number?"

"Yes, please. I'm writing it down, so we can check if someone found it yet."

I pulled myself together. Is was neither comfortable nor trained in lying. "It's 4497SR371FZ. I'm glad I wrote the serial numbers down in advance. I always was afraid that something like this would happen someday."

"No problem Madame Bélanger, we will notify you if we find it."

"Actually, can you deliver it to my house and throw it into the mailbox? I really don't want my husband to find out and he will be back from a business trip any minute. You know, he always tells me how clumsy I am. So I would prefer if you wouldn't call me if you find it. I'll check the mailbox later."

Adrien giggled in the background. He will totally pay for this. "We can arrange that. Thank you very much for calling." She hang up.

Now it was Adrien's part, as we continued walking for a few minutes. He dialed the same number as I did and the same voice came out of the phone. "Good evening, service de clés royale. My name is Dominique Bernot, what can I do for you?"

"Hello, I just found this key from your company near the Louvre. The serial number is 4497SR371FZ. I just wanted to notify you that I will bring it to the nearby police station. I guess someone will start missing it."

"Thank you, Sir. This key has already been reported missing. This is very nice of you."

"No problem, have a nice evening Madame Bernot." Adrien hang up and smiled at me. "Let's bring this one to the police station and wait."

Adrien entered the station which was heavily guarded by now. His father really was turning the city upside down to find us. It took him a few minutes to come back out. We sat down on a nearby bench and kissed like the loving couple we were for the next half hour until a car from the key company arrived and a guy walked into the police station. I wanted it to last a little longer, as I felt like I was in heaven, but Alya's life was on the line so I pulled myself together. Adrien looked like he wanted to continue too, but we finally had a clue. Both of us searched for a dark alleyway nearby to transform. It felt strange to transform right in front of each other, as I never expected my beautiful little Adrien to be the flirty Chat Noir.

We tried our best to stay hidden. The guy left the station a few minutes later. We followed him, which was hard because we had to dodge multiple police patrols on our way. Eventually, we made it, as it became easier since the car left Paris and drove into a forest north of it. It became very easy to follow him by this point since the police was only on patrol in the city. The driver stopped at a lonely mansion at the edge of the woods, threw something inside the mailbox and drove away.

I smiled, as I was sure we did everything right. "What do you say kitty, a woman that looks like me who was working in the hotel during the night the mayor got killed, who received a strange phone call, doesn't live at her official address and can afford an expensive mansion while just being a maintenance worker."

Chat Noir grinned at me. "I don't believe in coincidences, especially not in this many. Let's get going, M'Lady. Alya is waiting for us."

Right at this moment, I heard a painful scream. There was no doubt this was Alya. My heart pounded fast and Adrenaline rushed through my body. "We don't know what's in there. This can get very ugly. Are you ready Chaton?"

He looked at me, his eyes burned with the fire of determination. "I'm ready. Ready as I'll ever be."


	15. Look What You Made Me Do

I rushed towards a basement window to see Alya being tied to a chair. Her face was wet, her hair completely soaked, she had multiple bruises on her face and a knife was stuck in her right leg. Shivers ran down my spine as my best friend had to be in pain, desperate for someone to save her.

The fake Ladybug -facing us with her back - was standing next to Alya, interrogating my best friend. "Listen, bitch. I can torture you all day." She slapped Alya's face. "Where did you get this video footage? Who was helping you? Who are Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

I was about to break down the window, as Chat's hand touched my shoulder to hold me back. "M'Lady, we need a plan. This is the decisive moment. You go in there and make her talk, while I will be filming everything. I'll cover you if there is the need for it."

My knight in black leather clad put out his phone and started filming, when I saw Alya grin as she noticed us. "Like I will tell you! You're so dumb thinking you will get away with this."

"You will talk, I was being nice to you until now, but you are getting me started." The fake Ladybug was about to slap Alya again, as I jumped through the closed window, breaking the glass in the process. I jumped at the evil Ladybug rip off and tried to pin her down, but she dodged my attempt which made me land on the other side of the room.

She quickly ripped the knife out of Alya's leg, which made my best friend scream in agony and held the knife to Alya's throat. Damn, she was quick and athletic, even without magic powers.

"Ladybug, don't fucking move or I will cut her throat! Hand me over your miraculous, or she will die!" Her evil eyes and aggressive body posture told me, that she did not bluff.

I had to think about something to focus her attention on me. "Why are you doing this? You are talented, so why kill the mayor and make the effort to blame me for it?"

"Because I got paid. That's why! Now hand me over your miraculous or she dies in a horrible and bloody way!" She pushed the blade even closer to Alya's throat.

Damn it, I had no choice. She was way too fast for me or Chat Noir. One wrong move and Alya would die. I saw how Chat tried to make himself ready and nodded at me.

"Okay, you won. You can have my miraculous, just please don't hurt my friend." I looked at Alya, who wasn't believing what I was going to do. "I'm sorry please forgive me Alya."

I took off my earrings and turned back into my normal self. My friend's eyes widened, as she couldn't believe her eyes. I felt sorry for her and approached my counterpart, as she recognized me. "Oh, you're the little Agreste's girlfriend. How ironic that I stabbed you and you got the blame for it." The spiteful bitch gave me a demonic laugh.

"I will make you pay for this!" My eyes burnt with anger as I tried to pierce her with my stare.

She continued laughing at me. "Oh come on! Are you still upset about that? It's not like you died or something. I wasn't even aiming for a vital part, so you better be thankful that I spared your little life."

I came closer to her as she took a step away from Alya to pin me down and take my miraculous. This was the moment my partner jumped in and struck her down with his baton. I jumped a step back, put my earrings on again and yelled: "Tikki, transform me!"

A few seconds later, the fake Ladybug stood up again and slammed her knife in my upper chest, right where my heart was. But this time her blade bounced off as it failed to penetrate my magical suit. I grabbed her knife and broke it to pieces with one hand.

I yelled at my partner. "Chat, get Alya out of here!" Little did he know, that I had my own plans right now.

I kept attacking the evil bitch but she dodged all of my blows like she was a professional fighter. No wonder she was able to pull off similar stunts as I did. But she was still just a mere copy. I threw my yo-yo at her, as she tried to run towards a shotgun which was lying on a shelf, caught her leg and made her fall down. As she tried to get rid of my weapon, I jumped onto her left knee, breaking it under a loud cracking sound. She screamed in agony, but I wasn't done yet.

She reached for my earrings, so I grabbed her right hand and squeezed it until it broke. Another loud scream. She killed Chloé's father and blamed me for it, she made Chat break the law, attacked me and injured my best friend. She wasn't the victim of an Akuma, she was a killer who did everything on purpose. There was no way I could treat that as normal business. This was personal since the beginning.

I ripped off her mask. "Oh look, if this isn't Bridgette Bélanger. You said someone paid you. Who and why?"

She tried to resist. "Like I would tell some teenage bitch!" So much for cooperation. But I wanted to try a different method anyway.

"I don't like your little games." The first punch broke her nose.

"Don't like your tilted stage." The second punch took out a tooth.

"The role you made me play." I punched her in the ribs.

"Of the fool, no, I don't like you." Another punch to the ribs.

"I don't like your perfect crime." I punched her again.

"How you laugh when you lie." And again.

"You said the gun was mine." I hit her liver which made her flinch in pain.

"Isn't cool, no, I don't like you." My final punch hit her stomach.

Chat Noir jumped in. "M'Lady, please. I think this is enough. You don't have to do this. That's not you!"

Chat was right. I looked back at Bridgette, who was lying on the ground. She was done for. Unable to fight or run away, she looked at me with fear in her eyes. "Now tell me who paid you! Why did you kill Monsieur Bourgeois? Couldn't you just steal the Mona Lisa and blame it on me? It worked on Chat too!"

Bridgette replied, as she was gasping for air and coughing up blood. "We don't ask many questions in this line of work. I got direct and very specific instructions about how to kill the mayor and to frame you for it."

I absolutely despised people like her. Killing other people for money. Taking a human life for personal gain. She deserved every punch. A part of me wanted to kill her, but this kind of revenge would make me a murderer. I was better than her. She would rot in jail for the rest of her life. "And why did you attack me? Another paid job without questions asked?"

Her cold eyes looked into mine. "Exactly. He was very specific about this. He also wanted me to not injure the Agreste boy. That was oddly specific, but he paid me extra."

Chat Noir freaked out as he heard this, grabbing Bridgette at the collar of her Ladybug suit. "Who was it? Tell us already!"

She looked at us. "You can't make use of this anyway, so telling you won't make any difference."

Chat scratched her face, leaving a small trail of blood. "I asked who is responsible for all my Lady's suffering! Give me a name!"

Bridgette's eyes widened in fear again, but she had a dry reply. "Hawk Moth."

The room went silent and nothing moved, like time itself froze. I was not sure why he would execute such a complicated plan, but he nearly got our miraculous several times. I heard Alya from the outside. "We got everything on tape and camera. I will call the police now to pick us up. This is more than enough evidence to prove your innocence."

I tied up Bridgette with a rope to make sure she was unable to escape. Alya hugged me, as she whispered into my ear. "I always knew you would come to rescue me. And don't worry, I edited out the part where you revealed yourself. Nobody will know who you are. But girl you owe me an interview for keeping this secret from me."

I laughed, as Alya was still the same after everything she had to endure. She pulled out her phone and made a call. "Hello, Police? My name is Alya Césaire. I got kidnapped by someone who disguised herself as Ladybug. I'm hurt but the real Ladybug and Chat Noir came to my rescue. Could you please..."

Chat and I kissed as Alya was talking on the phone. This was finally over. After all this time and everything we have been through, we finally caught the real killer and got proof that we were innocent. I just hoped that the people of Paris will trust us again. Especially Adrien's father. Chat and I had no idea why he wanted to became Mayor, but we were sure he would drop his hostile position when we published every piece of evidence we had.

It took the police less than 10 minutes to catch up with us, multiple cars parked in front of Bridgette's mansion that she would never use or see again. Several heavily armed police officers approached us, weapons drawn until Chat started to break the ice. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience gentlemen. We have proof that this woman here disguised herself as Ladybug, killed mayor Bourgeois and kidnapped this girl. Alya has a copy of the confession with her."

One officer lowered his shotgun but was still watching every move we made. "We will check everything you give us, but we still need to arrest you since the warrant is still valid."

I facepalmed hard. Fucking bureaucrats. "Sir, please understand. We can't let you arrest us, but we promise to follow you until you have seen the evidence. We saved Paris multiple times and managed to find the real culprit all on our own. So please don't make this any harder for everyone. We both know you can't catch us anyway if we start running."

He made a thoughtful face and looked at his fellow officers who nodded. "Okay Ladybug, I will take your word for it. But beware, running now will make you look guilty. So please, no tricks."

The officers arrested Bridgette and pulled her into a car, while Alya took a seat in another vehicle. The police, Chat and I were heading towards the police station. Multiple police helicopters joined us when we reached the center of Paris. Their bright searchlights blinded me a fair bit, so I failed to notice a purple butterfly entering a police car.


	16. Life And Death

"Bridgette, you were so close to complete your mission. Nobody has the right to beat you. Those puny maggots will regret ever touching you. I am sending you the gift of a second chance, don't fail me again! You took countless lives for other people, but now you will take their souls for yourself. Grim Reaper, rise! Destroy all evidence and bring me Ladybug's and Chat Noir's miraculous!"

Chat and I followed the police cars, closely watched be the helicopters in pursuit. It was a good thing I talked us out of getting arrested. The cops seemed to trust us at least a little bit. I was sure, this was a sign of things already getting better. Chat smiled at me as we vaulted over the rooftops of Paris. It was a little bit like in the old days. Just running, jumping and swinging, without needing to hide from the police, without being chased. We still would need to testify, but this should only be a formality with all this prove we had.

Suddenly the car in front of us got sliced in half like a lemon. A dreadful figure with a wrathful look in a black coat hovered over said car, unholy clouds dark fog streaming away from her. This must have been Bridgette! I looked right in her face, as her head turned into a half rotten skull with red glowing eyes, burning with relentless hate. Her body was covered in black leather, just like Chat.

"M'Lady, I have a bad feeling about this." Chat readied his baton. We were in the middle of Paris, with an akumatized assassin on the loose. Akumatized Bridgette headed for Alya's car, there was no way we could allow her to reach it. I threw my yo-yo which managed to entangle her leg. She started pulling me with her, as Chat helped me by getting grip on my yo-yo's string. In an attempt to not let Alya escape, she threw her scythe towards the leading car, hitting its front axis and creating a mass crash in the process.

The police officers stormed out, pulling their guns and pointing them at Grim Reaper. She somehow managed free herself and flew to reclaim her weapon. The officers opened fire, but all it did was making her lose some smoke. Bridgette grabbed her scythe and went straight after Alya who was now being evacuated by 2 policemen. She flew by and struck all 3 of them down in a single cut.

Everything moved in slow motion as the blade hit my best friends chest and went straight through her. She fell to the ground, but instead of being cut in half, green bubbles of light came out of Alya and the policemen who guarded her and were absorbed into the Grim Reaper's body.

"ALYA!!!!!" I screamed out for my best friend, as I could not believe what was happening. We caught the killer, we were free, the world was normal again. Everything Chat and I went through, Alya suffering as well...all of it was for nothing.

Chat lost his temper and rushed in. "You will pay for this!" He wildly bashed the dark figure which looked like the incarnation of death itself. He wildly attacked and even managed to land a few hits which made her lose some smoke again.

The helicopters flew to the nearby plaza in front of the Hotel Grand Paris and tried to blind Grim Reaper with their searchlights to get her attention. This was either stupid, or they had a plan. I ran over several roofs and yelled at my partner. "Chat, don't rush in alone! Follow me to the plaza!"

One of the helicopters got the attention he was looking for and was immediately focussed by Bridgette, who by this point started to fly towards the helicopter. She left a short trail of black smoke behind her. Maybe it was just my imagination or the blinding searchlights, but she seemed to get a little smaller.

Not even a few seconds later and the first helicopter got its back rotor cut off, sending it crashing to the ground. Bridgette jumped for another chopper and made it explode in her relentless wrath. She hovered in mid-air as she summoned more green bubbles of light from the wreckages, which got absorbed into her body.

The dreadful personification of death grew in size. "Chat, she gains her powers from draining the souls of her victims! We need to stop her before she can get even more powerful!"

A multitude of armoured police trucks arrived, heavily geared up and armed officers rushed out and opened fire on the thing that just took down two helicopters in the blink of an eye. She lost even more smoke and started to shrink. Chat analyzed the situation. "She is losing energy when she gets hurt and recharges when she takes someone's soul! We have to keep her at bay before she can hurt anyone else!"

As she was becoming smaller, the Akuma flew into the hotel, crashing through a wall. I went directly after her while Chat went for the rooftop to prepare a pincer attack. I could hear the desperate screams of people escaping from the hotel, while several of them were caught, struck down and their souls absorbed into an ever taller growing reaper who continued her quest for growth through the hotel, busting one wall after the other. I had problems to keep up with her. She was faster than every other Akuma we ever fought.

I continued chasing her and finally managed to get a clear line of sight, so I threw my yo-yo and got a grip on her weapon by surprise. I pulled with all my force, the Scythe slipped out of the grim reaper's hands and flew past me, effectively getting stuck in the wall behind me.

Bridgette, of course, noticed this and attacked me. I dodged several punches, but got hit from her knee by surprise and got thrown through the room by a follow-up spin kick. I turned my head around and saw that I was about to fly straight into the scythe that was sticking in the wall, its bladed directed at me. This fucking bitch played me again!

I prepared for the worst as Chat Noir suddenly jumped in from the side, kicked the scythe away and caught me. This could have been my end, but Chat managed to save my life again. "Gotcha M'Lady. I enjoy saving you, but you better try to not get caught off guard."

"Maybe the Akuma is in her scythe! Take care of it, M'Lady! I will keep her busy!" Chat rushed in and used his baton to engage in close combat. Bridgette needed a moment to realize that her plan to kick me into her weapon's blade failed, so Chat managed to hit her with multiple combos right into her face, which made her lose more and more smoke.

I turned away from the fight, picked up the stupid scythe and broke in into pieces. I looked for a dark butterfly to come out, but there was nothing. I turned around to see Chat getting thrown out of the hotel through a window. Damn, she was an extremely competent fighter and the hardest Akuma we ever fought.

Bridgette jumped after him, so I followed. I could see people fleeing from the hotel while Chloé was leading the evacuation. She really matured. Sadly I got distracted for a second by looking away and immediately got punished by Chat's baton getting thrown into my face.

Bridgette slammed Chat into a wall, continuously absorbing more and more green balls of light which kept coming from the hotel. How many people did she hit?

I threw my yo-yo to swing towards my partner and our enemy, as I saw how Bridgette grabbed Chat's throat and choked him with one hand by pushing him into the wall. A green energy started flowing from Chat through Bridgette's hand into her body. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion and I still was far away, but I could see a tear running down Chat's face. "Please M'Lady, fogive me." Chat touched the reapers chest during a second of silence which felt like an eternity. "Cataclysm." Chat whispered this word with the last of his energy, as he fell to the ground without any sign of life left in him.

"Chat! No!" I couldn't believe what just happened. I was desperate as the Akuma wasn't in her scythe. That's right, it had to be something Bridgette was wearing before she got akumatized. I managed to get my eyes off my partner and focus my attention back on the evil bitch who tried everything to make our lives miserable.

Chat never used his cataclysm on a person or anything alive before. He probably was as desperate as I. The grim reaper started to dissolve, her complete lower half was missing and a huge part of her clothes disappeared, revealing the bones of her ribcage with a green orb worn like a necklace which absorbed the life energy Bridgette harvested from other people.

She screamed out in pain, as the cataclysm slowly burned through her, while she used other people's life energy to heal herself. "You will die for this Ladybug! You all will go to hell! You, your partner and everyone you love! Your little fangirl down there is the next one to die for you!"

She headed for Chloé, but a special forces officer opened fire on her to give Chloé a chance to escape. The blonde girl jumped to the side to dodge the attack but it was too late. Chloé got hit, as Bridgette stole her life energy to heal herself even more.

Maybe it was cruel, but Chloé gave me enough time to help me out. "Lucky Charm!" A few meters of rolled up copper cable appeared in my hands. What should I do with this? I expected something that kept the reaper from regenerating. Bridgette jumped me again and I was barely able to dodge. She kept increasing the speed of her attacks until she managed to send me flying through the front window of an American burger restaurant. Suddenly I noticed a cowboy hat, the picture of a cow, Bridgette and the high voltage power lines nearby.

I jumped out of the burger restaurant, brought some distance between us and yelled at my enemy. "You little coward will never get my miraculous! You need to take it from my dead body!"

"You can have that! Die Ladybug!" Bridgette jumped at me as I turned the copper cable into a lasso. My little taunt worked well on her ego. I used my yo-yo to get to the top of a pillar which was holding multiple electric cables. Bridgette took a final leap into my direction and reached out for me with her right arm.

I waited for the right moment, threw the lasso and managed to hit her neck. I jumped down the pillar, pulled on my copper cable to tighten the lasso and used my yo-yo to swing around the electric cables several times, leaving Bridgette tied to the high voltage power lines.

The enormous energy of the electricity basically fried her, destroying the green orb necklace just right before the overvoltage protection kicked in and disconnected the power lines from the cities electrical network, leaving a whole block of Paris in the dark.

I prepared my yo-yo as a small black and purple butterfly flew out of what used to be a necklace. "No more evildoing for you, little Akuma! Time to de-evilize!" I purified the Akuma and set the white butterfly free. "Bye bye, little butterfly."

I loosened my self-made copper lasso, making Bridgette fall to the ground and threw it into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!" The huge swarm of ladybugs brought everyone back to conscience as their life force returned. Even Bridgette got fully healed, leaving no trace of my special treatment behind on her body. I looked out for Chat Noir, who was slowly standing up and walked over to me.

Everyone was so busy looking out for their friends, comrades and loved ones that nobody noticed anything before it was too late. Everyone heard Chloé scream in panic.

"Listen up you punks!" Bridgette was holding Chloé as a hostage threatening to break the blonde girl's neck. Multiple special forces officers rushed in but kept several meters distance as Bridgette tightened her grip on Chloé.

A police officer intervened. "Give up! You are surrounded and have nowhere to go!" Bridgette tightened her grip on Chloé again in response and everyone could see that she was nearly choking out.

"I want a completely refueled helicopter and" The loud sound of a shot filled the air, as a large red cloud exited Bridgette's head as she dropped to the ground. Dead.


	17. Epilogue

Chat was standing right next to me, as it happened. I felt like I was lost in time, as everything was over quickly, but at the same time seemed to move in slow motion. The police officers rushed in and took Chloé away from this awful scene.

I heard the radio of a special forces officer near us. "Sniper Team 2 for operations control. The assailant is down. Repeat, the assailant is down."

They shot her. I couldn't believe the police actually shot her. She was an evil person, but still a human being. This was not right, there must have been another way. I took a short look at Bridgette's corpse but immediately regretted it. Never before was someone killed right in front of my eyes. Seeing all this blood and gore, looking at the dead body of the person I fought just a moment ago was too much for me to take. I clawed myself into Chat's suit, pushing my head against his chest as tears streamed down my face.

"I never wanted it to end this way. I hated her for killing Chloé's father, destroying our lives and torturing Alya. But I never thought it would end this way. I never wanted it to end like this! I wasn't strong enough! I should have pinned her down the second she detransfromed! It's all my fault!" My voice was muffled by Chat's suit and became unclear from my crying.

My partner pulled me into a tight hug and put one Hand on the back side of my head, as he tried to calm me down. "It's alright princess. It's over now. Everything will be okay. You are stronger than anyone else I know. If it wouldn't be for you, even more people would be dead by now. Bridgette brought all this upon herself. It was her decision to kill Monsieur Bourgeois, to take Chloé as a hostage and to not back down while she still had the chance. There was no other way."

I pulled away from Chat's hug and looked into his eyes. They were the warm, emerald green eyes I loved to see. His look helped me gain a little more stability. I turned around as I heard a familiar voice.

"Look at everyone who is here. The people from the hotel, the police officers, the helicopter crews. Every one of them is alive because of you." I couldn't believe my eyes, as Chloé somehow broke loose from the officers, just to cheer me up. She was on the brink of death just a few moments ago, but all she did was caring for me. She really changed.

Her words raised my mood, but I still felt miserable. "That's very nice of you to say, but..."

Chloe suddenly yelled at me. "No buts! When the whole city turned against you, you did not abandon us! You are more of a hero than everyone in Paris deserves!"

Her voice calmed down, as she continued. "You were strong when everyone doubted you...when I doubted you. For that, I am deeply sorry. You had every right to just disappear and leave all of us to our fate. But you decided to carry on and not take the easy way out. I am truly grateful for this."

I was baffled as she said this. Everyone was watching us. The bystanders, the policemen, even Alya, who - of course - was filming the whole scene. Chloé suddenly pulled us into a hug. Thank you Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Chat's ring beeped, signaling he only had a minute left before he would detransform, so we broke the hug. "I'm really sorry, but this cat and his lady need to go."

We made our escape from the scene. It felt wrong to leave, but I didn't have much time left either. The last weeks gave us enough experience in shaking off anyone who would try to pursue us and taking back alleys to dodge the police. But nobody even dared to follow us. I guessed that was a good sign. We detransformed near the bakery and silently made our way inside until we managed to get in my room without being seen by my parents.

I tried to calm myself down, but my hands were still shaking, with the images of the gruesome sight still present in my mind. "Adrien, do you really think there was no other way of solving this? I hated her guts, I crippled and tortured her. Not only to gather information but out of pure vengeance. Still, I never would have killed her. Nobody deserves death."

Adrien gave me a warm, kind and caring look with his lovely green eyes, which already made me feel better. "I don't think anyone could have done something else. It was her or Chloé. The police had no choice."

He had a fair point, but I wasn't feeling comfortable with this idea. Someone just got killed, this couldn't be right. "I'm a hero goddammit! It's my job to not let anyone come to harm. Couldn't they just give her a damn car or whatever and track her? We could have offered to hunt her down and arrest her."

Adrien pulled me into another hug as I started crying again. I really needed his lovely and careful way of calming me down. "But what if she would have killed Chloé? You would never forgive yourself. I know how much you always want to save everyone. Even the bad guys. It was a horrible sight, but we will learn to cope with this. I will always be here for you."

"It may sound inappropriate, but you two were lucky." The small black cat Kwami who was sitting on my desk suddenly spoke up.

Adrien got mad at the little cute fur ball, as he was trying to support me. "How are we lucky? Can't you see how Marinette is suffering?"

"Calm down, I will explain. This girl knew Marinette is Ladybug. Just imagine what would have happened if Bridgette had the opportunity to tell this to Hawk Moth. Her parents, you, Alya, Nino, the whole class would instantly become targets and would live in permanent danger. I'm not saying I like this either."

Now Plagg made his holder really mad, as Adrien stood up to confront him, but I intervened by holding onto his arm. "Adrien, stop. He is right. Maybe it's not what we'd like to hear, but it's the truth. I wouldn't forgive myself if anything would happen to you, my parents, or anyone in class because Bridgette got away. I have to pull myself together."

Adrien continued calming me down which evolved into cuddling, while Tikki and Plagg had their own stories to tell each other. I really thought those two make a sweet couple, even when Plagg was annoying Tikki from time to time.

Just when we got into a more relaxed mood, Adrien's phone rang as his father called him. Adrien answered the call. "Hello?"

"Adrien where are you? Paris looks like a war zone and Nathalie just told me you aren't in your room. I can't tell you how worried I am." Gabriel's voice was strict and slightly angry, but I could hear the relief in his voice when Adrien answered.

"I'm sorry, I was meeting with Marinette...because she wanted to show me some new designs. I'm at her place, sorry I forgot to call you, but I was afraid you would just forbid me to go. But I'm fine, everything is okay." Wow, Adrien was really good at lying to his dad. Even I would fall for his trick if I wouldn't know the truth.

"You can't just disappear like that! Also, you and Miss Marinette are spending a lot of time together lately. Is there anything I should know?" His strict voice got a more curious tone.

Adrien took a deep breath, while he thought about the best way to tell his dad what was going on between us. "Well...uhm...you know...yes. I love her and we are a couple!" My heart melted as Adrien yelled out these words.

I heard his father sigh big time as it took him several seconds to respond. "I can't keep you from growing up and I guess I can't disapprove your relationship with a girl who already took a knife for you. I will send your bodyguard over to pick you up in one hour. I have to return to the emergency meeting and will be home late tonight." His strict, monotone voice faded away as Gabriel hang up.

It suddenly hit me. "Adrien, your bodyguard will be here in one hour. My parents will find out. What do we do, what do we do?"

I panicked, but Adrien took my hand and reassured me. "Then we should tell them. Don't you think it's time to tell your parents about your boyfriend? It's not like they don't know about your crush on me anyway since your parents actually care for you. Let's go princess."

This was the moment I finally managed to escape the horrible things I saw a few minutes earlier. With Adrien at my side, we could do anything.

We went downstairs to talk to my parents who were watching the news on TV. It was a live show reporting about what happened at the hotel. Chloé was giving an interview. No matter how much she changed, she still loved getting attention.

I cleared my throat to announce my presence and started to introduce Adrien as my official boyfriend. Both of my parents were so happy for me and immediately accepted Adrien. My father actually became a bit lippy and told us, that they were just waiting for this moment to happen. We were spending the last hour on talking about different stuff and having a good time. Especially Adrien enjoyed being around with a loving family. It eventually became late and his bodyguard picked him up. He bowed down and kissed my hand. "Our paths will croiss-ant again."

I didn't say anything. Oh my god, I really hoped he would save his puns for his alter ego. This little dork had a huge grin on his face, as he obviously enjoyed his pun. "What's up Mari? Cat got your tongue?"

I smirked as I poked his nose. "What kind of cat are you? A pun-ther?" We both burst out into laughter, as Adrien's bodyguard cleared his throat. "Don't keep him waiting, we will see each other again." I kissed him on his cheek and he followed his bodyguard to the car.

I woke up early the next morning because Alya called me...again. She was my best friend and I liked her a lot, but she really needed to learn that I needed my well-deserved sleep. Especially since she now knew that I was Ladybug. I answered her call. "Good morning Alya, what's up?"

Alya was extremely excited and there was no way she tried hiding this at least a little bit. "I know you're still tired and exhausted from yesterday, but you need to hear this. The district attorney dropped all charges against Ladybug and Chat Noir! There will be a press conference in front of the city hall in one hour. You just have to be there!"

I woke up immediately. These were great news! Adrien and I could do our superhero thing again without being chased by the police. "What? When? That's awesome! But how?"

I heard Alya chuckle as she explained what happened. "When Chat Noir and Ladybug retreated to not detransform in front of everyone, Chloé and I got questioned by police officers and media. It took us hours, but we managed to convince the people that you're on the good side and got framed. Especially uploading the video of Bridgette's confession on the ladyblog helped you out. I gotta go, preparing some stuff. You can't imagine how many news stations still want me for an interview. I'll call your loverboy too. See you in an hour."

I said my goodbyes and Alya hang up. I immediately checked the ladyblog to see how the people were reacting to the news. It was unbelievable. Nearly nobody doubted us, people really believed our story. Only a few idiots still sided with Hawk Moth, but this was nothing new. There will always be trolls and idiots on the internet who just tried to mess up everyone's day. I did what everyone should do and just ignored them.

I browsed on the internet a little longer, reading one newspaper article after the other. My favourite headline was "Ladybug and Chat Noir: The rebirth of our heroes". It felt so good to be back in business, to be seen as a hero. I never thought this was important to me before this whole mess started, but being seen as heroes was what separated us from Hawk Moth. And it just felt good. I hoped everything would become like it used to be, but deep down I knew that I changed.

I looked at the clock to see that I was late for the press conference, so I rushed into the bathroom like I did nearly every morning. At least some things always stayed the same.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I came home from the press conference. It was a stressful and busy week, but today everything came to an end. I hoped for better results, but I gained at least something. The disappointment was still written all over my face, so I hurried into my office and came to a halt in front of the painting of my wife. A tear streamed down my face, as I whispered: "I'm sorry darling, it will be a little longer until we are united again. I wish you could see Adrien. He grew up and is becoming more adult every day. He is dating his first girlfriend, a very talented young designer who risked her life to save him. She is a lot like you. You will like her. Just a little more time and you will be able to get your own impression."

I took a deep breath, as the mixture of sorrow, anger and disappointment hurt me deep inside. I pressed the secret buttons on the painting as the hidden elevator brought me into my lair. Nooroo flew out of my jacket, as he exactly knew how I felt. "I can feel your sorrow, master. But why did Bridgette had to die?"

I took another deep breath and regained my straight posture. This Kwami was able to understand my feelings, but not my reasoning and determination. "Bridgette failed. I even had to call the special forces that I will cover everything if they should need to take her out to save someone else. I can't afford to leave loose ends Nooroo, you know that."

The little butterfly Kwami flew near me. His eyes told me to stop, which he knew I couldn't do. "Master, what are you planning to do?"

A moment of silence filled the air, as I looked at Paris, the beautiful city of love, as my miraculous started to blink. "Nothing will stop me from getting back the love of my life. Bridgette may have failed to deliver me the miraculous, but she helped me to become the mayor of Paris. Framing Ladybug might not have worked, but she made clear that a lot of people aren't supporting Ladybug and Chat Noir. I wish I could just have hunted them down by using the police, but this is just a minor setback. I am more powerful than ever before. I will tire them out until they make a mistake. And then I will strike. Ladybug, when you play the game of thrones, you win or you die!"


End file.
